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.
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R. A. Hettinga