[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 19454]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                      MARRIAGE TAX ELIMINATION ACT

  (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, over the last several years, many of us have 
been asking a pretty fundamental question, and that is, is it right, is 
it fair that under our Tax Code married working couples pay higher 
taxes than identical couples who live together outside of marriage. 
They pay higher taxes just because they are married. That is the 
marriage tax penalty.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to introduce to my colleagues Michelle and 
Shad Hallahan out of Joliette, Illinois, two public schoolteachers who 
suffer the marriage tax penalty just because they are married.
  Well, I have good news for Michelle and Shad Hallahan, as well as 28 
million married working couples who suffer the marriage tax penalty. 
The House and Senate agreement on lowering taxes for working families 
makes elimination of the marriage tax penalty the centerpiece.
  I am proud to say that the Marriage Tax Elimination Act, which now 
has 230 cosponsors, there were two key provisions which were included 
which helped both itemizers and nonitemizers. If one does not itemize 
their taxes, they benefit from the standard deduction; we double that. 
If one does itemize their taxes, they benefit from the widening of 15 
percent tax bracket.
  The bottom line is, we eliminate the marriage tax penalty.

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