[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 83 (Thursday, June 20, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5824-S5825]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          MARRIAGE TAX PENALTY

  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I want to talk about an amendment I am 
intending to propose to the armed services bill, although I understand 
there may be an agreement that everyone will oppose amendments that are 
not considered germane.
  I want to talk about the amendment because I think it is very 
important. We now have the House making permanent the marriage tax 
penalty relief. We passed marriage tax penalty relief last year in our 
Tax Relief Act, and it was signed by the President. It would begin the 
process of giving marriage tax penalty relief to the 40 million couples 
in our country who now suffer from a marriage penalty. In fact, it is 
21 million couples across the country--over 40 million people--who are 
taxed simply because they are married.
  The Treasury Department estimates that 48 percent of married couples 
pay this additional tax. According to a study by the Congressional 
Budget Office, the average penalty paid is $1,400. Fortunately, last 
year we took a step in the right direction. We are in the process of a 
repeal of the marriage tax penalty, with a full repeal to occur in 
2009. It does this by equalizing the size of the standard deduction. So 
if you are single and you have the standard deduction and you get 
married, that will just be double rather than about two-thirds of the 
total, as it is today.
  We also increase the width of the 15-percent bracket, so that if two 
people in the 15-percent bracket get married or if two people in the 
28-percent bracket get married, the 15-percent tax bracket will be 
doubled, so that you will at least have an equalization in the first 
tax bracket. Unfortunately, that will sunset in 2011.
  Last week, the House passed a permanent repeal of the marriage tax 
penalty. Now it is the Senate's turn. Senator Brownback, Senator Gramm, 
and I would like to make the marriage tax penalty repeal permanent, 
just so that married couples will know what to expect not only from now 
until 2009 or 2011 but beyond, to eliminate forever this kind of 
penalty, with the standard deduction--at least in the 15-percent 
bracket.
  Now I want to talk about how this affects military families. There 
are more than 725,000 members of the military who are married. That 
represents more than half of the Armed Forces. Of these, 79,000 are 
married to another member of the military. So these 40,000 ``military 
couples'' represent almost 6 percent of the Armed Forces.
  Consider the effect of the marriage tax penalty on two people who 
risk their lives every day to protect us. I will show this chart 
because I think it is very important. A lance corporal and a private 
first class in the Marine Corps will pay $218 more in taxes if they 
marry today. An important provision of the authorization bill we are 
debating is military pay raises. The same lance corporal and private 
first class will receive a 4-percent pay raise, according to the 
authorization bill we are debating today. But the marriage penalty 
would take back 16 percent of that increase. So of the $218, 16 percent 
is going to go in marriage penalty taxes.
  If a technical sergeant and a master sergeant in the Air Force get 
married, they will pay a penalty of $604. That eats up 17 percent of 
the pay raise we are debating today. Two Army warrant officers would 
pay $852 more to Uncle Sam, or 25 percent of their pay raise.
  Two Navy lieutenants who marry would pay more than $1,500 in 
additional taxes annually, giving up 34 percent of their pay raise.
  We are trying to make life better for those in our military. To give 
them a pay raise with this hand and on the other hand penalize 79,000 
of the people who are already sacrificing to be married to someone else 
in the military, possibly having to be in a separate part of the world 
from that spouse, to ask them to endure a marriage tax penalty that 
would take away as much as 34 percent of the pay raise we are giving 
them to make their lives better because they are out there in the field 
protecting our freedom, which does not make sense to me.
  That is why I had hoped I would be able to offer this amendment. 
However, it is my understanding there are now talks about taking away 
any nongermane amendments from this bill. I do not disagree that we 
want to pass the armed services bill, that we want to make sure the 
bill goes through. I certainly applaud that. I do, however, think that 
eliminating the marriage tax penalty would be a huge help for our 
military, particularly since we are giving them the pay raises with 
this bill that we hope will make life better for them.
  I know there are a lot of negotiations ongoing. I hope at some point 
we will be able to eliminate the marriage tax penalty not only for the 
40 million people who are now paying, but for our military personnel 
especially. We are trying to give them this better quality of life to 
tell them how much we respect and appreciate the job they are doing for 
our country.
  I would like to offer this amendment. I think I am going to be kept 
from doing that, but I want an up-or-down vote on making the marriage 
tax penalty permanent so that people will not have to wonder if the 
year 2011 is going to give them another big marriage tax penalty.
  We have spoken in Congress; the President has signed the tax relief 
bill. It is essential we go forward and make these tax cuts permanent 
so people can make plans. Whether it is the death tax, whether it is 
the bracket tax cuts, whether it is the adoption tax credit, whether it 
is marriage tax penalty relief--we had a balanced package of tax relief 
for all the people who pay taxes in our country.
  At a time such as this, with our economy teetering--and certainly if 
anyone is watching the stock market and corporations and the whole 
skittishness of our economy, they should see that we need some 
stability--we need the ability to free up consumer spending by taking 
the money out of the Government coffers, where hard-working people are 
putting it, and let them keep more of the money they earn in their 
pocketbooks.
  I hope very much I can offer this amendment--if not on this bill, 
certainly on a bill we will be able to pass this year. There is no 
reason not to make the tax cuts we have already made permanent so 
people know how much they are going to have to pay the Government from 
their hard-earned dollars. So many people are losing their jobs; so 
many people are having a hard time making ends meet today. I certainly 
want to make sure our armed services bill passes. I do not want to load 
it with extraneous amendments. I do not think this is extraneous. I 
think being able to give them pay raises they can keep is certainly 
something we should do for our military, but to take away 34 percent of 
the pay raise we are

[[Page S5825]]

giving them in a marriage tax penalty does not make sense to me.
  I certainly hope I will be able to offer this at the appropriate 
time. I want to make sure we are doing everything we can for the Armed 
Forces of our country. I hope the distinguished majority leader will 
allow making permanent the marriage tax penalty bill a priority for 
this session of Congress.
  I thank the Chair. I yield the floor.
  Mr. LEVIN. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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