00:00The committee will come to order.
00:02We meet today to consider favorably reporting the nomination of Congressman Billy Long to
00:07be Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service.
00:10As we have done with other nominees, the meeting this morning will provide members with the
00:14opportunity to offer remarks on Congressman Long's nomination.
00:19We will then recess briefly following member statements and then proceed to this morning's
00:24nominations hearing.
00:27We will notify members of a time and a location later today to conduct the vote on Congressman
00:32Long's nomination.
00:35At his hearing, Congressman Long outlined his vision to transform the IRS through systems
00:41modernization, a renewed focus on efficiency, and a much-needed change in IRS culture.
00:48If confirmed, I look forward to working with him to ensure the IRS focuses on helping American
00:52taxpayers to better understand and meet their tax responsibilities and that it enforces
00:58the tax law with integrity and fairness to all.
01:02I was encouraged to hear Congressman Long clearly commit that the IRS will not and should not
01:08be politicized on my watch.
01:12I also would like to thank Congressman Long for his time working through the Finance Committee's
01:17rigorous nomination process, in addition to responding to a large amount of questions
01:22for the record.
01:24At his hearing and in his written responses, Congressman Long clearly affirmed that all
01:28of his tax consulting work was as an independent contractor for Capital Edge Strategies.
01:35He never performed work for White River or anyone else regarding Native American tribal tax credits.
01:42With respect to the contributions to his Senate campaign, Congressman Long stated time and
01:47again that he followed Federal Election Commission guidelines.
01:52In sum, Congressman Long is uniquely suited to instill needed change at the IRS and I will
01:57vote in favor of his nomination.
02:00I encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to do the same.
02:03I now recognize Ranking Member Wyden for his remarks.
02:07Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
02:10Over the last several years, I have heard every member of this committee, all the Democrats,
02:19all the Republicans, talk about the importance of independence and neutrality at the IRS.
02:27If you genuinely believe in those priorities, you cannot vote for Billy Long's nomination for
02:36the IRS commissioner.
02:38Here's what's known about Congressman Long.
02:42He wasn't on the Ways and Means Committee.
02:45He wrote no original tax legislation in 12 years in the Congress.
02:53He has no tax policy experience, but he's got lots of tax fraud experience.
03:01When he left office, he threw in with a bunch of fly-by-night operators selling tax deals that
03:07were sketchy at best.
03:11He was paid to promote fake tribal tax credits by a company called White River Energy.
03:21After White River's scheme got exposed as a fraud in a Bloomberg report in mid-December,
03:27the company's CFO reassured panicky investors that everything would work out.
03:33They'd soon have friends at the IRS under Donald Trump to take the heat off.
03:40He said he'd be able to use his contacts to obtain favors and special private rulings.
03:46We have got this on tape.
03:50The CFO and several other White River employees then started making big-dollar donations to Congressman
03:56Long's Senate campaign.
03:58That had been mothballed all the way back to 2022.
04:03More than $165,000 came into the campaign after Trump announced Long's nomination.
04:10Much of it was from people affiliated with White River.
04:14Mr. Long pocketed $130,000 of that himself.
04:19Now he has repeatedly been asked to explain his role in the scheme I've described.
04:27What did he know about these fake tax credits?
04:30Who did he talk to about them?
04:33Why did White River employees think it was a good idea to donate to his dormant campaign?
04:41None of those questions were answered.
04:44Finance Committee investigators obtained information from the IRS that these tribal tax credits Congressman
04:51Long helped sell were indeed fake.
04:55And the promoters could face prosecution.
04:59Staff read that confirmation aloud to Congressman Long last month.
05:04He became outraged.
05:06He demanded to know who at the IRS had provided that information to the Finance Committee.
05:10He said he'd find out immediately if he gets confirmed.
05:16If his involvement in that one tax scam wasn't enough, there is more.
05:23He was slinging employee retention tax credits long after they had technically expired, when
05:30a well-meaning rescue program for small businesses had been overrun by fraudsters.
05:36Congressman Long is on tape saying that everybody qualifies for the employee retention tax credit.
05:41That's a lie.
05:42He bragged about getting money for a funeral home, even though the pandemic was a boom time for that kind of business due to the number of Americans dying of COVID-19.
05:53Finance Committee investigators obtained another recording, this time of an executive at a firm called Appreciation Financial that sold these tax scam-ridden tax credits.
06:05He said he made Congressman Long his guests to the inauguration earlier this year.
06:10He said they had dinner and spent a few nights together.
06:13His exact quote on the subject of IRS enforcement around employee retention credits is this.
06:20We could be worried, and I quote here, about promoter audits now that we don't have to worry about any of that now with Billy coming in.
06:30Echoing the executive at White River, the second tax credit promoter said he'd been promised special favors by Congressman Long himself.
06:39Again, we've got it on tape.
06:42I haven't even mentioned Congressman Long's multiple letters urging politically motivated attacks against nonprofit organizations.
06:49That, colleagues, is going to be the opposite of neutrality and independence that Democrats and Republicans talk about here in the committee.
06:59The fact is these scandals I'm mentioning are too big to ignore.
07:03And, colleagues, I know for a fact that there is going to be more troubling information that comes to light.
07:10So I close with this.
07:12It is not too late to go back and find somebody who isn't surrounded by scandal,
07:19who's got the experience managing a large organization, who's got some real experience working on tax policy.
07:28What's needed in our country now more than ever is an independent IRS.
07:34For that reason, I strongly oppose the long nomination, and I'm going to urge all my colleagues to do the same.
07:40Thank you, Senator Crapo.
07:41Thank you, Senator Wyden.
07:45Normally, I would turn to any other senator who's interested in making a statement, but seeing none, unless there is objection, we will proceed to a recess briefly before the hearing that is scheduled for 1030 for other nominees.
07:59And we will vote off of the floor at a time to be agreed.
08:04Is there objection?
08:05There isn't.
08:06I just want to make sure so all colleagues understand.
08:08We'll go to the regular hearing at 1030, 45 minutes from now.
08:11That's correct.
08:13With that, the committee stands in recess.
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