Remarks to the Joint Conference of Regional Commissioners and District Directors of the Internal Revenue Service.

Commissioner, Mr. Secretary:

I came over here this morning to express my great interest in the work that you are doing. I don't know any other society which attempts what this country attempts to do, which requires really the good will and support of the citizens of the United States in contributing a large share of their income to the maintenance of the American society.

You are the point of contact with them, the people who work for you, and therefore the kind of spirit which you are able to inculcate into your people has a good deal to do with the success or failure of this great national effort.

Heavy burdens are placed upon the American society today. Over half of the money that is collected under taxes goes to our national defense. A good deal of the rest goes to other programs of great importance to our national security. Out of a total national income of $500 billion, nearly $90 billion are collected in taxes by the Federal Government. Other billions are collected by the cities and the States. That is a tremendous burden to place upon any society, and yet the American people have been willing to assume it.

I think it is our responsibility to make sure here in the national Government that every dollar that is collected by the Internal Revenue Service, every dollar that is paid by our people, is spent wisely, for a useful national purpose, for a purpose which advances our national interest.

I want to commend you for the efforts that you are making to improve our service, to make it easier for people to understand exactly what their responsibility is. I hope that you will impress upon the agents of the Internal Revenue Service how much we are dependent upon them, on their courtesy on their efficiency, on their integrity, on their fairness.

I hope that here in Washington we will continue to work so that the burdens of the tax system become as fairly distributed as possible, so that they are distributed in a way which stimulates our economy and stimulates our growth to the extent that is possible, and not retards it.

This is a matter which is receiving great concern under the direction of the Commissioner, under the leadership of the Secretary of the Treasury, under the counsel of the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. Surrey--and it is a matter of great personal interest to me.

This is a civil service area. It is going to be directed and administered in that fashion. I want you to understand that we are strongly behind you. We expect the best from you, and I can assure you that we will do the best we can here.

This is a difficult time in the life of our country. Our obligations spread around the world. It is becoming more obvious that the United States is the great source of strength not only to the people of this area of the world but also to people stretched all around the globe. They all look to us. And therefore the obligations upon us are many.

I commend you for your work. I express the hope that in the future we can all of us constantly improve our responsibilities to the public interest.