[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 2]
[House]
[Pages 1798-1799]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                    WORKING SENIORS DESERVE A BREAK

  (Mr. HERGER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HERGER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to say that working seniors 
deserve a break, and it is time we gave it to them.
  I think most of us in this chamber agree that our Tax Code needs to 
be fairer. And in order for the Tax Code to be fairer, we must first 
eliminate the many ways that it unfairly punishes the American people.
  Our House took a first step on this front just a few weeks ago when 
we passed a bill that would give married

[[Page 1799]]

couples relief from the marriage tax penalty. But just as it is unfair 
for couples to be penalized simply for being married, it is equally 
unfair for senior citizens to be penalized simply because they have 
jobs. Yet the Social Security earning limits is doing just that.
  Because of these earnings limits, senior citizens risk losing a large 
portion of their Social Security benefits if they decide to keep 
working past the age of 65 and they make more than the law allows. In 
essence, our government is telling senior citizens that they should not 
work. Instead, our government should encourage not discourage.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in voting to eliminate the Social 
Security earnings limit.

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