The Senate voted overwhelmingly to confirm a Virginia technology executive as the new commissioner for the IRS, the first of several moves by Congress this week to revamp the tax collection agency.
Following the Senate's 92-0 vote on Monday, management consultant Charles O. Rossotti pledged to give IRS workers "the tools and support they need to provide . . . quality service.""I now look forward to getting on with the ambitious long-term job of reaching our goal of providing taxpayers service consistently as good as that delivered by the private sector," Rossotti said in a statement after the vote.
Rossotti, 56, of Washington, becomes the first non-tax lawyer or accountant to head the agency in decades.
"We have brought in the right man to do the job at the right time," said Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-N.Y., ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, which oversees the IRS.
The White House has said Rossotti's nomination is central to its strategy to revamp the IRS, citing the new commissioner's experience leading a successful global technology company, American Management Systems of Fairfax, Va., which has 7,000 workers in 53 cities worldwide.
The company had revenues of $812 million in 1996 providing consulting and technology services to such major clients as the National Football League, the California Franchise Tax Board and Bell Atlantic Corp.
"I know that as commissioner, Charles Rossotti will give IRS employees the training and direction they need to do their jobs," Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin said in a statement.
Approval of Rossotti came as the House was expected to pass a IRS restructuring bill later this week. The bill, sponsored by House Ways and Means Chairman Bill Archer, R-Texas, would put in place a new 11-member oversight board and modify personnel rules to promote innovative workers while removing laggards.
The Senate, however, has resisted pressure from House leaders and the White House to act on the IRS restructuring measure this year.
"It is likely we will get only one shot at restructuring the IRS," Senate Finance Committee Chairman William V. Roth said.
Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, agreed, saying Congress faces "a golden opportunity for us to look at the tax code, look at its complexity, look at the degree at which it is unfair, and try to fix it."
"By taking the time to get it right . . . I think we have an opportunity to dramatically change the Internal Revenue Service," Gramm said.
At his confirmation hearing last month, Rossotti said he would work to improve customer service at the IRS and promised more open communication with taxpayers and IRS workers alike.
A key Senate backer of the IRS bill, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, urged his colleagues to act on the legislation before adjourning for the year.