    									10/24/2002

    							Gerald J. Klaas
    							PO Box 255427 PMB 147
    							Sacramento, CA 95865

    	Floyd L. Williams
    	Director for Legislative Affairs
    	Internal Revenue Service CL:LA
    	Washington DC  20224
            floyd.williams@irs.gov

    	Dear Mr. Williams,
    		I am responding to your letter of July 29, 2002 regarding my prior petition
    for redress of grievances as guaranteed to me in the 1st Amendment to the Constitution
    and forwarded to you by my congressman, Richard Pombo.
    		In your letter, you state that "the fact that I did not give you the answer you
    want does not, in my opinion, impinge upon your 1st Amendment right to petition the
    Government for redress of grievances."  While I agree with your statement that I am not
    guaranteed any particular answer, I am guaranteed an answer that a reasonable person
    would accept as a valid and truthful answer.  I submit that you did not give me any
    answer, thus it cannot be valid and truthful.  The "answer" you gave me on May 23rd,
    2002 was: " I understand that the Department of Justice responded to a letter from
    Congressman Roscoe G. Bartlett that enclosed a packet of the 299 questions, and we
    fully concur in the response that they provided to Congressman Bartlett."  This "packet"
    to which you refer was not included with the letter you sent me on May 23, 2002, which I
    duly noted in my response to you on June 24, 2002.  Further the "packet" was not
    included in your response to my letter of June 24, 2002, even after I noted its absence.  I
    assume that this "packet" does exist in your office as I would expect you to read a
    response before "fully concur"-ring with it, and so on August 19, 2002, I filed a Freedom
    of Information Act request with the IRS FOIA Office to obtain a copy.  Not to my surprise,
    the IRS has failed to respond to my request within 20 business days, as is the statutory
    requirement of the Freedom of Information Act.  With this letter, I am again requesting
    that this "packet", which you believe is an adequate answer to my petition, be forwarded
    to me.  I am also requesting that my congressman investigate why the IRS would fail to
    meet its statutory deadline with regard to my FOIA request.
    	Further in your letter, in response to my request that you prove to me that the 16th
    Amendment was properly ratified in 1913, you state that, "it is the responsibility of the
    judicial branch, not the executive branch, to determine whether federal laws are
    constitutional."  Again, I agree with your statement as it applies to the general discussion
    of the doctrine of separation of powers, however, in my letter of June 24, 2002, I was not
    asking for a discussion of the doctrine of separation of powers, I was asking that you
    justify the statement in the  IRS document "The Truth About Frivolous Tax Arguments"
    which says, "enough states ratifying the 16th Amendment even without Ohio".  In
    particular, since you sent this document to me on May 23rd, 2002, I believe I am justified
    in asking for the supporting evidence that would allow you to make such a claim.  In
    particular, I asked for, and currently ask again, for a list of the states, the language
    passed, and the date of ratification, for each state that the IRS counts in order to justify
    the above statement within the published IRS document.  As "The Truth About Frivolous
    Tax Arguments" is an executive branch document, I believe it is reasonable to expect the
    executive branch to demonstrate its justification as it pertains to the supporting evidence
    for a statement within an official executive branch document.  I am not asking you to
    defend an argument before the Supreme Court, only that you support with evidence
    statements made within your own documents.
    	I look forward to your response,

                                    [signed Gerald J. Klaas]

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