<http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20041203-124037-3201r.htm> The Washington Times Aide takes blame for tax return provision Washington, DC, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- Language in the omnibus spending bill giving congressional staff access to U.S. tax returns was inserted by a mid-level aide, not a member of Congress. Richard Efford, a 19-year veteran of the House Appropriations Committee staff, said he was responsible for the controversial provision, which critics characterized as an invasion of privacy. Efford said he did not consult with Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Ernest Istook, R-Okla., before including the language, which he said was simply an attempt to give committee staff the authority to enter Internal Revenue Service facilities to inspect how taxpayer funds were being used. He said the genesis of the provision was the IRS' objection to his request to visit a tax return processing facility. "They said if someone's return was up on a computer screen and you glanced at it there would be a release of taxpayer information," a breach of privacy laws the IRS could not accept, Efford told the Washington Post. The provision's existence became known just hours before a vote on the spending package. It set off an uproar that led congressional leaders to hold off on sending the bill to the president's desk until the provision could be struck from the bill. -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah@ibuc.com> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'