[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 10 (Tuesday, February 8, 2000)]
[House]
[Page H226]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          MARRIAGE TAX PENALTY

  (Mr. HUTCHINSON asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HUTCHINSON. Mr. Speaker, I think my colleagues on both sides of 
the aisle would agree that we may never have a perfect tax code, but it 
should at least be fair. That is the essence of any voluntary tax 
system.
  How can we in this body make our tax system more fair? We can start 
by passing the marriage tax relief bill. Last year, nearly 50 million 
Americans, including more than 200,000 of my fellow Arkansans, paid 
extra taxes just because they were married. These folks do not pay just 
a little bit more in taxes; they paid an average of $1,400 apiece.
  Our government is discriminating against married couples by forcing 
them to pay an extra fine of more than $1,000. This is not fair, and it 
should end.
  Whether it is in a church or in a courtroom, couples have to usually 
pay some type of a fee for the marriage ceremony. But while it may cost 
money to get married, it should not cost money to be married.
  I hope all of my colleagues will join me in standing up for married 
couples and in voting yes on the Marriage Tax Penalty Relief Act.




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