[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 15 (Wednesday, February 16, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H490-H491]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                ELIMINATION OF THE MARRIAGE TAX PENALTY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Weller) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. WELLER. Mr. Speaker, I want to take a few minutes to just talk 
about a very fundamental issue, a fundamental issue of importance to 50 
million American taxpayers, 50 million middle-class working Americans. 
I have often been asked, whether I am at the steel workers hall in 
Hegwish in the South Side of Chicago or the Legion post in Joliet or a 
chamber of commerce or the coffee shop called Weit's Cafe in Morris, 
Illinois, my hometown, or the local grain elevator, a pretty 
fundamental question; and that question is, is it right, is it 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?
  Folks back home just do not understand why for almost 30 years we 
have had a marriage tax penalty, which the average is $1,400 each for 
25 million married working couples. In the south suburbs in the South 
Side of Chicago, $1,400 is real money. It is a year's tuition at a 
local community college for a nursing student. It is 3 months of day 
care. It is a washer and a dryer. It is 4,000 diapers for a child.
  Mr. Speaker, we need to address the issue of fairness. We need to 
address the issue to wipe out the marriage tax penalty suffered by 50 
million married working people. It is an issue of fairness.
  Here is how it works: what causes the marriage tax penalty is when a 
couple decides to marry, when they file their taxes, they file jointly. 
When they file their taxes jointly, their combined income usually 
pushes them into a higher tax bracket.
  Let me introduce Shad and Michele Hallihan, two public school 
teachers from Joliet, Illinois. Shad and Michele have been married 
almost 2 years now. They just had a baby, a wonderful young couple; but 
they suffer almost the average marriage tax penalty.
  Now, Shad and Michele have a combined income of about $62,000. 
Suppose that they have an equal income, each making $31,000. Michele 
here, if she stayed single, would be in the 15 percent tax bracket; but 
because she and Shad married, their combined income of $62,000 pushes 
them into the 28 percent tax bracket, creating well over almost the 
average marriage tax penalty of $1,400.
  We want to help couples like Shad and Michele. Michele pointed out to 
me that the average marriage tax penalty would buy almost 4,000 diapers 
for their newborn baby.

  Should not those couples like Michele and Shad be allowed to keep 
money, keep their hard-earned salary, their hard-earned income, rather 
than paying a tax just because they are married?
  We are working to address that, and I was so pleased that this House 
of Representatives overwhelmingly supported, with a bipartisan vote, 
268 Members of the House endorsed wiping out the marriage tax penalty 
in order to help couples such as Michele and Shad Hallihan.
  H.R. 6, the Marriage Tax Elimination Act, passed this House as a 
stand-alone bill and addresses one issue, the need to wipe out the 
marriage tax penalty for 25 million married working couples. If we look 
at who pays the marriage tax penalty, one half of them itemize their 
taxes, millions of middle-class families itemize because they own a 
home or give money to church or charity, have education expenses. Well, 
we wipe out the marriage tax penalty for those who itemize their taxes 
by widening the 15 percent tax bracket so that joint filers can earn 
twice as much as single filers and stay in the 15 percent tax bracket. 
That will help Shad and Michele Hallihan.
  For those who do not itemize, we double the standard deduction, 
helping those who do not itemize by doubling the standard deduction to 
be twice that of single people. We also help the working poor, those 
who participate in the earned income credit, by addressing the income 
eligibility, eliminating the marriage penalty for the working poor as 
well.
  Mr. Speaker, it is a good bill. It helps those who itemize. It helps 
those who do not itemize. The primary beneficiaries are those with 
incomes between $30,000 and $75,000, those who suffer the marriage tax 
penalty the most. We do not raise taxes on anyone. We wipe out the 
marriage tax penalty. We

[[Page H491]]

help stay-at-home moms. We help those who are homeowners.
  Mr. Speaker, eliminating the marriage tax penalty is a fundamental 
issue of fairness, and that is what it is all about. Let us make our 
Tax Code more fair.
  Now, this legislation, the Marriage Tax Elimination Act, H.R. 6, 
passed the House with 268 votes. Every House Republican and 48 
Democrats broke with their leadership to support our effort to 
eliminate the marriage tax penalty. We have tremendous momentum, and my 
hope is our friends in the Senate will follow the lead of the House, 
move quickly to move a stand-alone bill wiping out the marriage tax 
penalty; not loaded up with amendments or extraneous riders or other 
poison pills.
  My hope is that they will keep it a clean bill and that they will 
move expeditiously and as quickly as possible to wipe out the marriage 
tax penalty for couples like Michele and Shad Hallihan. That is what it 
is all about, fairness. Let us wipe out the marriage tax penalty. Let 
us make the Tax Code more fair. We ask for bipartisan support.

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