WALLY HERGER: “Mr. Speaker, this is really, I believe, what it is all about: Are we as Americans going to allow a tax that basically…”

“Mr. Speaker, this is really, I believe, what it is all about: Are we as Americans going to allow a tax that basically tells a young couple, a man and a woman who want to get married, that we are going to penalize them an average of $1,400 for just getting married? What are we telling them? Are we really encouraging them, to say if they are not married and they live together, they are not going to pay this? Is this the message we want to send them? It certainly is not. Mr. Speaker, tonight we have laid out the reasons why the marriage tax penalty must be reformed. This tax unfairly penalizes married couples, particularly those with low to average incomes. Providing marriage tax relief could result in up to $1,400 in savings per family currently affected by this tax. I say that this is something we need to do. Last year Congress passed marriage penalty relief. Regrettably, President Clinton chose to veto our tax relief bill. Mr. Speaker, we are offering it again.”