Taxpayer Data Protection Act

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 8292) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to increase penalties for unauthorized disclosure of taxpayer information, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak in favor of the Taxpayer Data Protection Act. When Americans file their taxes, they expect their personal data and tax information are confidential.

Between 2017 and 2021, Charles Littlejohn, who worked as a contractor for the IRS, stole taxpayer information, and he stole a lot of it. He gave it to The New York Times and ProPublica, who published articles containing that confidential tax information about President Trump and other notable figures. Mr. Littlejohn then destroyed evidence and obstructed law enforcement investigations.

Despite his efforts to cover up his crimes, Mr. Littlejohn admitted that he was ``aware of the potential consequences'' and, in fact, made his decision ``with the full knowledge that [he] would likely end up in a courtroom.''

Current law failed to deter Mr. Littlejohn from stealing and leaking private and sensitive taxpayer information. Moreover, the Department of Justice only charged Mr. Littlejohn with a single count of unauthorized disclosure of private tax information.

Given this lackluster charge, Republicans wrote the judge urging the court to sentence Mr. Littlejohn to the maximum sentence for the crimes he committed, particularly given the number of taxpayers impacted by his actions.

Mr. Littlejohn ultimately received the maximum sentence available, but the court was limited to the single count that the Department of Justice brought charges on.

This bipartisan bill ensures that the punishment fits the crime. Current law states that any violation shall be a felony punishable by a fine in any amount not to exceed $5,000 or imprisonment of not more than 5 years or both.

This bill increases the maximum penalty for the unauthorized disclosure of returns and return information to include a fine of up to $250,000 or imprisonment of not more than 10 years or both. It also ensures that prosecutors can consider each taxpayer impacted by a disclosure to support a separate and distinct violation of the law.

Increasing the punishment for this crime will result in better deterrence for potential criminals and fewer crimes of this sort being committed.

I urge all my colleagues to support this legislation and send a very clear message that Congress will not tolerate the theft and leak of taxpayer information.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Yakym).

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Every taxpayer deserves to have their data protected from theft and illegal disclosure. Our voluntary tax filing system depends on trust, a trust that was betrayed by a criminal with political motives who calculated that the crime would be worth the current punishment.

Simply put, he knew the crime he was committing, he knew the likelihood he would end up in prison for just a few months or years, and he decided the risks were clearly worth his reward.

We have an opportunity to deter similar actions from happening again in the future by making the punishment match the crime.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in voting for the Taxpayer Data Protection Act, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 8292, the Taxpayer Data Protection Act. I am proud to vote for this bill that will enhance criminal penalties for the unlawful disclosure of taxpayer information.

Under Section 6103 of the tax code, tax returns and return information are confidential and may only be disclosed by the Internal Revenue Service and its employees, agents, or contractors if an exception applies.

Any unauthorized disclosure of tax information is a felony punishable by a maximum fine of $5,000 or imprisonment up to 5 years or both.

This bill significantly increases the maximum penalty to $250,000 and imprisonment of up to 10 years. It also makes clear that each taxpayer disclosed is treated as a separate violation subject to the maximum penalty.

This bill responds to one of the largest leaks of taxpayer information in the history of the IRS. While working at the IRS, a former contractor, Charles Littlejohn, unlawfully accessed and stole confidential tax information of the former President and thousands of wealthy taxpayers and disclosed it to two news organizations, including ProPublica. These news organizations then published a series of articles using the confidential tax information they were provided.

Earlier this year, Mr. Littlejohn was sentenced to 5 years in Federal prison for unlawfully accessing and disclosing tax information, which is the maximum sentence under current law.

This bill would have provided the judge with the discretion to increase the sentence, given the massive leak of information.

As required by law, the IRS has notified nearly 70,000 taxpayers who were impacted by this unauthorized disclosure. We must do all that we can to prevent this from happening again. This bill will provide taxpayers additional confidence in the IRS that their information is safe and protected.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time for closing.

Taxpayers must have full confidence that the IRS will safeguard their data. As Members of Congress, we must strengthen our laws to ensure that every American's tax information is protected.

This bill increases the maximum penalty for unauthorized disclosure and will serve as a big deterrent for folks who may think about breaking the law.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' in support of this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

I will buy her a pony too.

Let me go to plan B. What I will do is, I want to hit ``pause'' because I don't want to do this behind Ron's back. Let me hit ``pause,'' and I will ask that we go into a quorum call. When Ron gets here, I will ask to be recognized so I can assert my motion, and Ron can agree with my splendid bill, and then we will go pick out a pony.

So I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Madam President, my friend Senator Wyden is here, so I would like to proceed. I am sorry he missed my speech. It would have given him goosebumps if he had been here to listen to it. But maybe you all can tell him about it, and I hope he will find it convincing.

In the meantime, as if in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 8292, which is the bill I talked about passed by the House almost unanimously, which was received from the House.

They couldn't hear me? Let me start over. All right.

Madam President, I am sorry. I didn't have my mic on.

The Presiding Officer recognized my request that we suspend the quorum call?

Madam President, Senator Wyden is here. I thank him for coming out. I hope he heard my speech. I hope he was persuaded. I know him to be a reasonable man, so I took my best shot. So I am going to go ahead and make my motion now that he is here.

Madam President, as if in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 8292. That is the bill I talked about that was passed almost unanimously by the House. That bill has been received from the House. I further ask that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Madam President, I thank my friend Ron for his point of view. I hope we can sit down and talk about this and perhaps work something out because this bill is not about changing the tax rate; it is just about everybody's tax return is their own business.

I also thank, Madam President, your courtesy and time and attention in this matter.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Reserving the right to object.

Madam President, I certainly have no sympathy for leakers, and I want to make a couple of points to make it clear why I am going to oppose this proposal.

First of all, the biggest leakers of taxpayer data are the big tax software companies. We never hear a peep from our colleagues on the other side about that. In fact, my Republican colleagues try, with every piece of legislation where there is a possible connection, to get rid of the IRS's new direct-file system that allows taxpayers to avoid the

big tax prep companies who overcharge them and give away their data.

My view is, it makes no sense to create an even larger double standard--a life sentence for nonviolent offenders. That seems disproportionate to the whole concept of potentially zero penalty for big corporations that leak all the time.

Second, let's talk about the system this proposal would protect. It is a system that allows the people at the very, very top to pay what they want, when they want to, and, often, sometimes nothing at all for years on end. Some of the wealthiest folks--the people at the very top--pay zero for years on end, including the ex-President.

So my view is the American people ought to have more information about the tax schemes the ultrawealthy are playing, not less.

I want to make it clear, again, I take a backseat to no one when it comes to protecting taxpayer data. But the tax games of the ultrawealthy are not a state secret that ought to be protected like the nuclear codes. The Congress ought to be doing more for tax transparency. I am happy to have that discussion.

Meanwhile, the Senate should not go out of its way to help the system that helps the ultrawealthy hide in the shadows and dodge paying their fair share.

For those reasons, I object.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Missouri and the chairman for his time as well as his leadership on this bill.

I rise in strong support of the Taxpayer Data Protection Act, which will increase penalties for the unauthorized disclosure of personal information.

Americans want certain things kept private. For example, the secret ballot protects the sanctity of the voting booth. HIPAA keeps medical history between you and your doctor. Section 6103 is supposed to safeguard the sensitive information of our tax returns.

Beginning in 2017, an IRS contractor illegally downloaded tax returns for thousands of Americans and began sharing them with reporters. When the investigators caught on, he tried to destroy the evidence of his crime. Yet the Biden-Harris administration let off the perpetrator of this egregious breach of trust with only a single count of unauthorized disclosure.

We cannot let partisan actors with delusions of white knighthood think they can get away with sacrificing institutional trust in furtherance of their personal political vendettas.

I thank Chairman Smith for keeping the spotlight on this case, and I urge my colleagues to support the bill.