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




SENIORS SHOULD NOT BE PENALIZED FOR CONTINUING TO BE PRODUCTIVE MEMBERS 
                             OF OUR SOCIETY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Foley) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FOLEY. Mr. Speaker, as we conclude legislative business today, I 
particularly commend my colleague from Illinois (Mr. Weller) on his 
fine presentation on eliminating the marriage penalty, a vote we had 
first and foremost in our Committee on Ways and Means, of which I am a 
proud member, and obviously brought to the floor with overwhelming 
success in a bipartisan spirit of trying to eliminate the tax burden on 
married couples throughout America.
  Another issue we are debating and considering and, of course, has 
been authored by several people, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Shaw), 
the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Sam Johnson), the gentleman from Texas 
(Mr. Archer), but really one of the people that we need to single out 
today on this special bill is the Speaker of this House, the gentleman 
from Illinois (Mr. Hastert).
  They say success has many parents and failure is an orphan. Well, 
today we can call one bill that will be coming to the Committee on Ways 
and Means next week and hopefully quickly to the House floor a very big 
success and that is thanks to the hard work, again, of the Speaker.
  In 1986, Mr. Hastert, the Speaker of the House, introduced a bill to 
eliminate the earnings penalty by our seniors that basically for the 
ages of 65 through 69, when they continue to work productively, they 
start losing, diminishing, their Social Security monies that come to 
their account. So virtually in America one is penalized, based on the 
Tax Code, for working past the age of 65.
  Clearly, all statistical data indicate people are living longer, more 
fruitful lives. They are more productive and more engaged in society, 
but somehow through the years a discriminatory position of the Tax Code 
has said we are going to start deducting from their earnings for every 
$3.00 over $17,000 they earn they will have a one dollar liability, 
basically losing one dollar of Social Security benefit. That is a 
horrendous policy. That is a terrible discriminatory policy of the 
Federal Government.
  Now everybody lately has been saying, I am for that bill. The 
President says he will quickly sign it. The minority leader says, I am 
for that bill; in fact, it was a Democratic proposal.
  Well, let me talk about the hard work of the gentleman from Illinois 
(Mr. Hastert) since 1986 in bringing that proposal to the floor. 
Obviously, it was stymied. It was not agreed upon. It was not voted on 
for many, many years.
  Finally, we have a chance to correct what I think is a colossal 
inequity in the Tax Code, and that is to say to senior citizens 65 
through 70, that, yes, we encourage them to continue to work; yes, we 
in fact applaud them for their continuation of working in the 
mainstream and, secondly, we are not going to penalize them any longer 
for that productive activity.

                              {time}  1445

  I think it is says a lot about where America is going and whether we 
should value seniors and value their input and value their expertise 
and value the fact that they are willing to continue to work hard in 
the marketplace.
  So, as I say, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Shaw), the chairman of 
the Social Security Subcommittee on Ways and Means, the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Sam Johnson), the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Archer), the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hastert) and others who have joined with 
us today in this important opportunity, the committee will, in fact, be 
bringing the bill to the floor, or at least to the committee, next week 
and then onto the floor.
  So, first and foremost, we have had, at least on the House floor, 
elimination of the marriage penalty as a priority. Now we are facing an 
opportunity to do something for seniors. And we can continue to work on 
these initiatives.
  Let us be clear. We have balanced the budget. Yes, we still have a 
huge debt that we must pay, $5.7 trillion total debt, and we are 
working on a plan in fact to reduce that. The gentleman from Illinois 
(Mr. Hastert), the Speaker; the President; virtually everybody agrees 
that it is time to pay down the debt. Let us do that. Let us do that 
while we have that surplus cash flow.
  We also have a chance to shore up Social Security and Medicare, and I 
think that it is incumbent upon everyone in the room to reach across 
party lines and start developing a format in which Social Security and 
Medicare can be reserved.
  Finally, I am certain we will join together in some form of coverage 
for medicines, health care. Medicare will provide some kind of 
pharmaceutical relief for those desperately in need of relief from the 
high cost of pharmaceutical and prescription drugs.
  These are issues I believe the Congress can work on without a lot of 
rancor and bitterness. These are issues that are fundamentally and 
vitally important for people throughout America. They are programs that 
seniors depend on.
  I think this Congress, now as we enter the 21st century, not only has 
the fundamental opportunity and responsibility, but clearly now has the 
resources to make some of these things come to reality: pay down the 
debt, modest tax cuts for those who desperately need them, shoring up 
Social Security and Medicare, and doing the kinds of things that will 
instill in us not only a national sense of pride but also act as a 
model for young people.
  By suggesting finally that the Federal Government is going to pay its 
debts, maybe it sinks into those who have failed to live up to their 
responsibility, recognizes the true leadership that is necessary, and 
they in fact in their own personal lives start paying down debts that 
they may owe, credit cards and other things that have probably hampered 
their ability for economic prosperity.
  If America is going to move forward, we can start embracing some of 
these topics today. But I again urge my colleagues to sign on to the 
elimination of the senior penalty, where we tax those 65 to 69 for 
continuing to be productive citizens in society. Undo this horrible 
tax, if you will, on their earning capabilities. Take free the shackles 
from them and allow them to be productive, prosperous, and successful 
Americans like everyone else.




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