[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 20 (Tuesday, February 7, 2012)]
[House]
[Page H522]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1230
                      SHARED FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY

  (Ms. BALDWIN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. BALDWIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise on behalf of the middle class 
workers in Wisconsin and across the country who have unfairly been 
paying a higher tax rate than millionaires and billionaires.
  Middle class Americans deserve to know that our tax system has not 
been rigged against them. Powerful special interests have manipulated 
our Tax Code to ensure that the wealthiest Americans don't have to pay 
their fair share. These loopholes and special provisions have made it 
so that billionaire Warren Buffett's secretary pays a higher tax rate 
than he does. In fact, approximately a quarter of all millionaires pay 
lower effective tax rates than middle class families.
  Yesterday, I introduced Paying a Fair Share Act, H.R. 3903, which 
would make the ``Buffett rule'' law and ensure that middle class 
workers do not pay higher tax rates than those earning more than $1 
million a year. I invite my colleagues to join me in taking this 
commonsense first step to strengthen middle class families and rebuild 
our economy with a commitment to shared responsibility.

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