[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 15 (Wednesday, February 16, 2000)]
[House]
[Page H459]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




HOUSE IS WORKING TO ELIMINATE MARRIAGE TAX PENALTY AND SENIOR EARNINGS 
                                PENALTY

  (Mr. WELLER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WELLER. Mr. Speaker, this House is making progress. This past 
week we passed legislation to address what I consider to be the most 
unfair aspect of the Tax Code, the marriage tax penalty suffered by 25 
million married working couples who pay $1,400 on average in higher 
taxes just because they are married.
  Later on today in the Committee on Ways and Means, we are going to 
move legislation that eliminates the earnings penalty on senior 
citizens who are on Social Security who need to continue working or who 
want to continue working and right now they are punished. In fact, $2 
out of $3 of their Social Security benefits if they earn more than 
$17,000 are taxed and taken away just because they want to work. That 
is wrong. That is what that is all about. We want to bring fairness to 
the Tax Code. That is why we worked to eliminate the marriage tax 
penalty.
  My hope is our friends in the Senate will join with us. My hope is 
those on the other side of the aisle will join with us and make it a 
bipartisan effort to eliminate the marriage tax penalty and to 
eliminate the earnings penalty on our senior citizens. It is all about 
fairness.




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