On Tax Day, Congress OKs Shield From IRS Browsing

The do-little Congress outdid itself Tuesday as Democrats and Republicans turned Capitol Hill into a frenzied, Tax Day bazaar, using the occasion to bash the Internal Revenue Service--and one another--while promoting bills ranging from abolition of the IRS to an array of tax cuts.

As expected, the Taxpayer Browsing Protection Act passed the Senate by a vote of 97-0 and flew through the House 412-0. It calls for a fine up to $1,000 and/or a year behind bars for any IRS employee found snooping on citizens’ tax returns.

Late in the day, the House failed to pass a proposed constitutional amendment that would have required approval by a two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress to increases taxes. The 233-190 vote fell 49 votes short of the two-thirds majority required to approve proposed changes to the Constitution.

Other than those votes, much of the day was spent in floating old and new antitax ideas and in theatrics.

One of the day’s more unusual proposals sought to move the tax filing deadline from April 15 to election day--to strengthen the link between the act of voting and its consequences, said its sponsor, Sen. Spencer Abraham (R-Mich.).

Meanwhile, a four-member congressional delegation--including Rep. Ron Packard (R-Oceanside)--flew to Boston (at public expense) to reenact the Revolutionary-era Tea Party, although it was the U.S. Tax Code and not tea that they heaved into the harbor while vowing to replace the federal income tax with a 15% national sales tax.

At a hearing before the House Ways and Means Committee, Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) renewed his call for a flat tax, which, he said, would result in greater fairness, simplicity and prosperity.

But the committee chairman, Bill Archer (R-Texas), was only partially sympathetic. Ruing that it had taken him two full days to prepare his own tax return, Archer called for a consumption tax.

“I am convinced that if most members of Congress did their own taxes, we would have had tax reform long ago,” he said.

Later, House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) acknowledged the intraparty differences over tax reform, saying, “We ought to have a great debate” over the issue.

Republicans used the day largely to present the image of a party bent on cutting taxes. They got off to an early start when Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.), appearing at a 9 a.m. “tax summit” hosted by Jack Kemp, last year’s GOP vice presidential candidate, fumed: “Everything you touch in life is now taxed,” starting with that first cup of coffee. “April 15 is a miserable day for most Americans.”

Although Gingrich recently called for the abolition of taxes on capital gains and estates, he said Tuesday the GOP has lowered its expectations. The party’s top priorities are cutting the capital gains tax rate; raising the threshold at which estates are taxed; and enacting a $500-per-child tax credit for families, he said.

Democrats, who are not especially known for their tax-cutting fervor, were focused more on criticizing Republicans for missing the April 15 deadline for passing a budget resolution, as required by law.

Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) harped on that theme in his daily press conference, saying at one point that Democrats were unleashing bloodhounds to roam the Hill in search of the budget.

But it was the tax-cutting, IRS-bashing zeal of some Republicans and their allies that evoked in Sen. Bob Kerrey (D-Neb.) another canine image. “Many are frothing like rabid dogs,” he said.

Later Kerrey tossed them a bone by noting that the National Commission on Restructuring the IRS, which he co-chairs, is likely to recommend significant management changes at the agency. A commission report with recommendations is due June 30.

Also on Tuesday, the House adopted a nonbinding sense of the Congress resolution saying that the president and Congress should work together to enact permanent tax relief for American families.

But as the afternoon sun began casting long shadows across the National Mall, there was little tangible to show for all the day’s bustle.

“Talk is cheap,” said Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.). “When all is said and done, more is said than done.”

Times staff writer Janet Hook contributed to this story.