[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 6 (Wednesday, February 4, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H246]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              UNFAIRNESS IN TAX CODE: MARRIAGE TAX PENALTY

  (Mr. WELLER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WELLER. Mr. Speaker, today I wanted to stand up and rise and 
speak towards an issue which deserves bipartisan support. That is the 
issue of eliminating the marriage tax penalty. I believe that the best 
way to frame the issue of the marriage tax penalty is to ask some very 
simple questions: Do Americans feel that it is fair that a married 
couple with two incomes who both work pay higher taxes under our Tax 
Code? Do Americans feel that it is fair that a married working couple, 
two incomes, pays higher taxes than an identical couple who choose to 
live together outside of marriage? That is just not unfair, Mr. 
Speaker, that is wrong.
  On average, 21 million married working couples pay an average of 
$1,400 more in taxes under our Tax Code today just because they are 
married. Here in Washington that is a drop in the bucket. Back in the 
south suburbs of Chicago, $1,400 is a lot of money for the average of 
those 21 million married working couples: down payment on a car and a 
home, a year's tuition in a local community college. Let us work 
together in a bipartisan way and eliminate the marriage tax penalty.

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