[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 29 (Wednesday, February 24, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H727]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   ELIMINATE THE MARRIAGE TAX PENALTY

  (Mr. CHABOT asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, a lot of Americans look at what the 
government does and conclude that many of the things that it does 
simply make no sense. The marriage tax penalty certainly falls into 
that category. The Federal Government has actually set up a system that 
makes married couples pay more in taxes than couples that live together 
but are not married.
  When people shake their heads when they hear about the latest crazy 
scheme coming out of Washington, Mr. Speaker, this is exactly the kind 
of thing that they have in mind.
  There is no telling what absurd rationale the social engineers had in 
mind when they set up the marriage tax penalty, but Americans with 
common sense think it is time finally for some accountability. It is 
time to get rid of this dumb idea of taxing people more just because 
they get married. It is time to bring a little middle America common 
sense to a tax code that is an affront to the common sense of American 
citizens, and it is time that we reduce taxes for all Americans across 
the board.
  Mr. Speaker, we are just overtaxing this country. Let us finally do 
something about it and lower taxes.

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