[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 69 (Thursday, May 13, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H3110]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         MARRIAGE IS A GOOD THING; ABOLISH MARRIAGE TAX PENALTY

  (Mr. SCHAFFER asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SCHAFFER. Mr. Speaker, marriage is a good thing. This Congress 
has an historic opportunity to do something it should have done long 
ago, abolish the marriage tax penalty.
  Many young couples are surprised to learn the government actually 
penalizes people for getting married an average of $1,400 per year for 
middle income families.
  The people have long known the government does a lot of foolish 
things. Even liberals have to admit the government has thousands of 
stupid taxes and regulations, programs that actually make things worse 
instead of better, and inefficiencies that seem to be immune to reform.
  The marriage tax penalty is just so wrong that it stands among the 
ugliest symbols of everything wrong about a government that is too big, 
too arrogant, and too oblivious to the concerns of the average people 
who struggle every day to get ahead, make ends meet, and raise their 
children in peace.
  Why does the government make it so much harder for people who want to 
get married? I urge Members on both sides of the aisle to right this 
terrible wrong. It is high time we abolish the tax on marriage.

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