[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 55 (Wednesday, May 6, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H2822-H2823]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          MARRIAGE PENALTY TAX

  (Mr. HERGER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HERGER. Mr. Speaker, as Mother's Day approaches, we should all 
remember that when a couple stands at the altar and says, ``I do,'' 
they are not agreeing to higher taxes. Yet, under our current Tax Code, 
that is precisely what is happening to millions of married couples each 
and every year.
  According to a recent report by the Congressional Budget Office, an 
estimated 42 percent of all married couples, some 21 million couples 
nationwide, incurred a Federal marriage penalty tax in 1996. The 
average marriage penalty that year approached an astounding $1,400.
  Addressing this inequity in our tax law must be one of the top 
priorities of this Congress as we work to provide the American people 
further tax relief in 1998. This Mother's Day, I would urge all of my 
colleagues on both sides

[[Page H2823]]

of the aisle to give the gift of tax fairness by supporting our efforts 
to eliminate the marriage penalty tax.

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