The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, April 18, 2001, Page 5, Image 5
'Che (Bamecock
Questions raised about
possible IRS retaliation
by Larry Margasak
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The IRS sought to
thwart a whistleblower from getting her
accounting license, prompting concern
on Capitol Hill about possible retaliation.
The auditor had testified at nationally
televised hearings in 1997 that her agency
harassed taxpayers.
IRS officials in February sent a routine
form back to Texas licensing regulators
about Houston-based agent Jennifer Long,
declining to answer questions about her
skill, character and integrity while alerting
the agency it was sending a “narrative”
required for derogatory information.
The agency then drafted a three-page
letter to the regulators dated March 22
that sharply criticized her work on
multiple fronts — including suggesting
she mishandled audits. “The probes for
unreported income were not adequate,”
said the letter, which was obtained by
The Associated Press.
The Texas Board of Public
Accountancy, however, granted Long’s
license before the IRS letter was sent.
Long was the star witness at 1997
hearings before the Senate Finance
Committee that examined alleged abuses
by the IRS. She was the lone agency
worker to shun a voice disguise and
protective screen used by fellow
whistleblowers to conceal their identities.
In 1999, IRS officials sent her a
termination notice but never fired her
after members of Congress inquired about
possible retribution.
The latest episode prompted Finance
Committee chairman Charles Grassley,
R-Iowa, to allege that the letter drafted
for Texas regulators amounted to new
retaliation.
“I can only conclude that this action
by the IRS may be a precursor to a
termination of Ms. Long in retaliation
for her testimony as a congressional
witness,” Grassley wrote IRS
Commissioner Charles Rossotti this
month.
Grassley added he would “take every
recourse within my power to protect
her.”
IRS officials declined to discuss why
the letter was drafted and why it was
never sent, citing employee privacy.
Rossotti said in an AP interview with
he was “very familiar... up to date” about
the incident and was confident there was
no retaliation against any agency
whistleblowers.
“TliorQ Koan vannnc inr'iHflntc
of complaints that have come up. I
have made it a point to be sure that every
one of those situations has been
thoroughly, and I would say very
thoroughly, investigated,” he said.
“I can tell you I am personally certain
that none of these people were retaliated
against and all have been treated fairly.”
Long, whose job is to audit tax returns,
alleged at hearings in 1997 that “many
agents are encouraged by management
to pursue tax assessments that have no
basis in law from individuals who simply
can’t fight back.”
Other IRS employees offered similar
testimony with their faces hidden and
their voices disguised.
She sued the IRS in federal court
alleging retaliation. But a federal judge
in Houston dismissed the Lawsuit, pointing
out in a footnote that the federal office
investigating her complaints had “closed
the file.”
Ship possibly smuggling
child slaves docks in Africa
by Glenn McKenzie
Associated Press
COTONOU, Benin — Puzzled
authorities tried to determine whether
a ferry that pulled into port Tuesday
was a sliip suspected of smuggling child
slaves that was believed to be wandering
for days in Africa’s Gulf of Guinea The
arriving sliip earned passenger, including
dozens of unaccompanied children.
The U.N. Children’s Fund kept up
an alert for the possibility of there being
a second sliip actually carrying the slaves
that might try to dock somewhere along
the western African coast.
“We have asked our offices in
Malabo and elsewhere in the region to
remain vigilant and not to demobilize,”
said Zachary Adams, UNICEF official
in Cotonou, Benin’s commercial capital.
Malabo is the capital of nearby
Equatorial Guinea.
The 200-foot ferry that arrived in
Cotonou bore the name of the vessel
that officials had been hunting — the
Etireno — but it appeared freshly
painted, with the signs of another name,
“NORDBY,” still visible underneath.
The captain said the name was changed
in 1999.
Among the passengers — mostly
women and a few men — 43 un
accompanied children were found on
the boat and were taken to two children’s
shelters, where they were fed and
allowed to rest before being questioned.
It was not clear how the children
got on the ship. It couldn’t be ruled out
that they were being smuggled into
slavery, said Alfonso Gonzalez Jaggli,
of the Men of the Earth charity, which
runs one of the homes. “How can we
explain the presence of 43 children
here?” Jaggli told Associated Press
Television News. “It is not possible to
clear up the question of trafficking at
this time.”
An anxious search had begun
Thursday, when it was reported that the
Nigerian-registered MV Etireno had
clandestinely slipped out of Cotonou
with 100 to 250 children on board being
smuggled into slavery. It was reportedly
wandering in the Gulf of Guinea for
several days after being turned away
from ports in Gabon and Cameroon.
The ferry pulled into Cotonou
shortly after 1 a.m. with a crowd of
Cabinet ministers, soldiers, police and
journalists waiting. It was found to be
carrying women, children and a few
Social Protection Minister Ramatou
Baba Moussa produced a copy of the
handwritten manifest from the ship. It
listed 139 names, including seven
children. The unaccompanied children
apparently weren’t listed.
The passengers, nervous and
exhausted, said no cliild slaves had been
aboard, as did the vessel’s 40-year-old
Nigerian captain, Lawrence Onorne.
“I have not committed any offense
that will warrant my arrest,” Onorne
said. “I am not into child slavery; they
can’t prove it. It is one thing to say, and
one thing to prove.”
Passengers and crew on the arriving
ferry told journalists the vessel left Benin
on March 27 mid arrived in Gabon’s
capital, Libreville, April 2.
For four days, authorities in Gabon
detained the boat and its passengers,
who were taken onshore by canoes,
apparently because they didn’t have
proper documents.
Spyplane
from page 4 v
no detajls.
“It is our hope that the U.S. side
will take a constructive attitude in
negotiations so as to ensure a proper
settlement of the question,” Zhang told
reporters.
She refused to say whether China
would discuss returning thfe plane.- It
is believed to be at the Hainan air base
where it landed. Foreign Ministry
spokesman Zhu Bangzao said Tuesday
that China 'would deal with the plane
lawfully.
“For our part; we are continuing
our investigation, and we are going to
treat or manage the plane According
to the law,” Zhu said, speaking to
reporters in Caracas, Venezuela, where
President Jiang Zemin was wrapping
up a 12-day Latin America tour.
Zhu claimed the U.S. plane was
flying “inside” a Cltinese territorial zone
before it was intercepted by the Cltinese
fighter planes.
“Many high U.S. officials have given
very irresponsible statements (about
the incident), confusing the truth. At
this moment, they also are trying to
blame us, and they must take
responsibility,” Zhu said. “We express
our dissatisfaction.”
China also claims the United States
violated its sovereignty by landing at
the military base in Hainan without
securing Chinese permission. U.S.
officials say the plane was badly damaged
and sent out an emergency signal
according to international practice.
China says those rules don’t apply to
military planes.
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Rev. Tun Lijewski Mass Schedule Sacrament of Penance
Chaplain Saturday 4:30pm Saturday 3:00pm-4:00pm
Sr. Julienne Guy OSU Sunday 11:00am. 7:30pm or by appointment
Director of Christian
Formation . Newman Club Tuesday 7:00pm
iW'_1610 Greene St. 799-5870 (Across from School of Nursing)
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10:00am - Sunday School
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