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Congressmen help citizens get their due By Dani Dodge Sometimes Congress really does want to give your taxes back. At least two Oregon congressmen are putting your money where their mouths are, via their Web sites. Click on their Web pages and find the names of all the people in their districts who are still owed tax refunds. "Some Oregonian stands to receive over $18,000 from the IRS," said Peter DeFazio, (D-Springfield) "This is no game show prize. It�s money owed by the government to hard-working taxpayers." DeFazio has had the names on his Web site, which is www.house.gov/defazio about a week. Congressman Greg Walden (R-Hood River) is putting them on his Web site ( www.walden.house.gov ) today. Walden represents Jackson County, part of Josephine County and all counties east of the Cascades, while DeFazio represents constituents from Curry to Linn counties, including part of Josephine County. There�s more than 400 names on the two Web sites; 21 from Medford alone. Some of the refunds, though, may already have been picked up � the list was last updated by the Internal Revenue Service in November. Still, many of those refunds are still awaiting their rightful owners, said IRS spokeswoman Judy Monahan, although she doesn�t know how many. "It�s usually a fair amount of people who moved without a forwarding address or maybe the address was illegible,�� Monahan said. Monahan said this is the first year that members of Congress started putting the names on Web sites in large numbers. Previously, the agency just sent out notices to members of the media. (Because of privacy rules, the IRS is prohibited from publishing the names on their Web site.) "There are a fair amount of congressional offices listing them and I think it�s wonderful," Monahan said. "We give them sanitized lists. No dollar amounts and no street addresses. We can�t e-mail it. We fax it. We have all kinds of privacy rules." She credits the boom in technology and accessibility to the Internet for the making the postings all the rage in Congress � along with congressional good will, of course. "Think about it, five years ago people didn�t have their own Web sites," Monahan said. Most people believe it was Texas congressman Lloyd Doggett who first got the idea of putting the names on the Web early this spring. Another Texas congressman, Martin Frost, picked up on the idea in April according to his press secretary Greg Speed. They located one woman who was owed $20,473. "I can�t tell you if people have received money, but people on the list in our district have been made aware they have money," Speed said. "One of the things we wanted to call attention to is the absurdity that we can post this information and the IRS cannot." When Walden�s office heard about the chance to list names and help people in the Second District, staff members jumped on it. "It�s a no-brainer," said Walden aide Jeff Eager. "The congressman is happy to provide this service." Those who haven�t already picked up their checks and spot their names on the Web sites can call the IRS at 1-800-829-1040 to claim their refunds. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA