[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 18]
[House]
[Page 25812]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            CONGRESS SHOULD REPEAL THE MARRIAGE TAX PENALTY

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to read a portion of this 21-
page report, entitled ``The State of Our Union, the Social Health of 
Marriage in America,'' by David Popenoe and Barbara Dafoe Whitehead.
  It says, and I quote:

       Key social indicators suggest a substantial weakening of 
     the institution of marriage in America. Americans have become 
     less likely to marry. When they do marry, their marriages are 
     less happy, and married couples face a high likelihood of 
     divorce.

  The report goes on to say many other things. It has many findings. It 
concludes that marriage is a fundamental social institution; that it is 
central to the nurture and raising of children. It is the social glue 
that reliably attaches fathers to children. It contributes to the 
physical, emotional and economic health of men, women, and children 
and, thus, to the Nation as a whole.
  Mr. Speaker, Congress should promote policies that value, endorse, 
and encourage marriage, not punish it. We should repeal the marriage 
penalty tax.

                          ____________________