[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 14 (Tuesday, February 15, 2000)]
[House]
[Page H378]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          MARRIAGE TAX PENALTY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 19, 1999, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Weller) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. WELLER. Mr. Speaker, I have the privilege of representing the 
south side of Chicago and the south suburbs in Illinois; and I am often 
asked about a fundamental issue of fairness, whether I am at the 
steelworkers' hall in Hegwish in the City of Chicago, or a legion or 
VFW post in Joliet, the Chamber of Commerce functions, a coffee shop in 
my hometown of Morris, or at a grain elevator, and that is the 
fundamental issue of whether or not it is right or it is fair that 
under our Tax Code 25 million married working couples on average pay 
$1,400 more in higher taxes just because they are married.
  My colleagues, the folks back home, whether they live in the city, 
the suburbs, or the country, have all told me that they think it is 
just wrong that under our Tax Code 25 million married working couples 
pay on average $1,400 more just because they are married. They think it 
is wrong, and they want Congress and the President to do something 
about it.
  Let me introduce Shad and Michelle Hallihan, two public school 
teachers from Joliet, Illinois. Shad and Michelle chose to get married 
a couple of years ago. They just had a little baby, just a couple of 
months ago. But Shad and Michelle are a typical example of the 1.1 
million Illinois married couples who suffer the marriage tax penalty. 
Now, if Shad and Michelle stayed single and decided just to live 
together, they would avoid the marriage tax penalty because the 
marriage tax penalty results when two people get married and they file 
jointly.
  So, for example, Shad and Michelle have identical incomes of $31,000. 
Michelle is making $31,000 a year. Under our Tax Code, if she is 
single, she pays at a 15 percent tax bracket. But when she and Shad 
chose to get married, and suppose that Shad has an identical income of 
$31,000, remember he is in the 15 percent tax bracket as well, but when 
they get married they file jointly and their combined income pushes 
them into the 28 percent tax bracket. So they are now paying a 28 
percent tax rate on that same income. Is that right? Of course not. It 
is time that we do something about the marriage tax penalty.
  I am proud that this House this past week, last Thursday, voted to 
wipe out the marriage tax penalty with the passage of H.R. 6, 
legislation that wipes out essentially the marriage tax penalty 
suffered by Shad and Michelle Hallihan as well as 25 million other 
married working couples who are punished just for getting married under 
our Tax Code.
  H.R. 6 passed this House with an overwhelming bipartisan vote. Every 
House Republican and 48 Democrats bucked their leadership and voted to 
wipe out the marriage tax penalty for 25 million married working 
couples. That is a big momentum. Of course, our hope is the Senate will 
follow our lead.
  One thing that I am so proud of our leader, the leader of this House, 
the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hastert), the House Speaker, I thought 
made a very smart decision. He made a decision to allow H.R. 6 to come 
to the floor as a stand-alone bill, a bill that only deals with one 
subject. A clean bill that wipes out the marriage tax penalty and that 
is all it does. No extraneous issues.
  Remember when the President and Al Gore vetoed our effort to wipe out 
the marriage tax penalty last year? It was part of a package, tax-
related legislation. And, unfortunately, they used the other provisions 
as an excuse to wipe out our efforts to eliminate the marriage tax 
penalty.
  My colleagues, we have a great opportunity. And my hope is the Senate 
will follow our lead and move quickly to move H.R. 6, the Marriage Tax 
Elimination Act, through the Senate as a stand-alone bill. No 
extraneous provisions, no riders, no poison pills. We need to keep it 
bipartisan. Let us keep partisan politics out of our efforts to wipe 
out the marriage tax penalty.
  Over the next few weeks, 25 million married working couples like Shad 
and Michelle Hallihan are going to be back home watching to see if 
Congress and the President do something about the most unfair aspect of 
our complicated Tax Code, and that is the marriage tax penalty. We have 
a great opportunity, and it is all about fairness. Is it right, is it 
fair that under our Tax Code 25 million married working couples pay on 
average $1,400 more just because they are married? Twenty-five million 
couples just like Shad and Michelle Hallihan.
  Let us wipe out the marriage tax penalty. The House has done its job. 
My hope is the Senate will do its job, and my hope is the President 
will keep his word. Because, remember, in his State of the Union 
address, he mentioned the marriage tax penalty and the need to do 
something about it. We have an opportunity. Let us keep it bipartisan, 
let us get the job done, let us bring fairness to the Tax Code and wipe 
out the marriage tax penalty once and for all.

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