[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 59 (Thursday, March 30, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H3984]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       SENIOR CITIZENS EQUITY ACT

  (Mr. HASTERT asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HASTERT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to inform the House that 
provisions from H.R. 8, the Senior Citizen's Equity Act, are part of 
H.R. 1215, the tax bill we will be considering next week.
  These provisions would lift the earnings penalty on seniors who need 
to continue working in our society. H.R. 1215 also includes provisions 
to repeal the 1993 Clinton tax hike on Social Security benefits and to 
provide tax breaks for older Americans who purchase long-term care 
insurance.
  Mr. Speaker, it is difficult to understand how Congress could 
continue to allow our Nation's laws to punish work and send the message 
to seniors that society no longer wants the skills and experience of 
older workers.
  Under the earnings penalty, working seniors lose $1 of every $3 of 
their Social Security benefit. FICA and State taxes bring the penalty 
up to a 56-percent marginal tax rate--twice the tax rate of 
millionaires. This is simply not fair.
  I have been working to relieve seniors of this tax burden for 8 
years. Seniors cannot wait any longer. It is time to retire the high 
tax burden on our Nation's seniors instead of retiring older Americans 
who need to work to remain independent, productive members of society. 
It is time to pass the tax bill.


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