[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 15]
[House]
[Page 21269]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               TIME TO ELIMINATE THE MARRIAGE TAX PENALTY

  (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, I have an important question to ask, and 
that is what is the President going to do about the marriage tax 
penalty?
  Over the last 2 years, dozens of us in this House have asked the 
important question, is it right, is it fair, that under our Tax Code 
married working couples with two incomes pay higher taxes than 
identical couples with identical incomes living together outside of 
marriage. We believe it is wrong that 21 million married working 
couples pay higher taxes just because they are married; and this 
Congress, this Republican Congress, has passed, the end of July, 
legislation which will eliminate the marriage tax penalty for a 
majority of those who suffer it.
  The question we have: Is the President going to join with us and make 
it a bipartisan effort to eliminate the marriage tax penalty by signing 
into law the tax cut when we send it to him later this week?
  Twenty-one million married working couples pay $1,400 more in higher 
taxes just because they are married. Is it not time that we eliminate 
the marriage tax penalty?

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