[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 25 (Wednesday, March 11, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H1024]
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, why is enactment of the Marriage Tax 
Elimination Act so important? Do Americans feel that it is fair that 
our tax code imposes a higher tax penalty on marriage? Do Americans 
feel that it is fair that 21 million American married working couples 
pay $1,400 more in taxes than an identical couple with identical 
incomes living together outside a marriage? Do Americans feel that it 
is right that our tax code actually provides an incentive to get 
divorced? Of course not.
  The marriage tax penalty is unfair and it is wrong. The marriage tax 
penalty results when you have two individuals who choose to marry and 
their combined income, when they file jointly, pushes them into a 
higher tax bracket.

                              {time}  1015

  Twenty-one million married working couples pay this tax penalty, on 
average $1,400 a year. And on the south side of Chicago and the south 
suburbs I represent, that is 1 year's tuition at a local community 
college; that is 3 months' worth of day care at a local child care 
center.
  The Marriage Tax Elimination Act now has 238 bipartisan sponsors and 
would immediately eliminate the marriage tax penalty. The marriage tax 
penalty is unfair, it is wrong. Let us eliminate it and let us 
eliminate it now.

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