Jack Kingston: “20 years ago my wife, Libby, and I walked down the aisle. And we were lucky, we had a lot of family and friends there…”

“20 years ago my wife, Libby, and I walked down the aisle. And we were lucky, we had a lot of family and friends there, who showered us with gifts. My wife seemed to have written thank you notes for a month or two afterwards trying to catch up. Now, we got married in October. Well, come April we got a little notice from Uncle Sam. It was not a wedding gift, though. It was the marriage tax penalty. Because we decided not to live with each other; because we decided to get married, we had to pay more money. And just like Michelle and Shad Hallihan in Joliet, Illinois, we in Savannah, Georgia, had to pay extra. Now, as the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Weller) said, Michelle is pregnant. She is going to have a baby. Uncle Sam is going to take away about $1,000 worth of diapers because of the marriage tax penalty. But they will also be having to buy diaper changing tables and cribs and all kinds of other things, such as car seats and so forth. Why? Because they are doing the right thing. Because they are making a lifetime commitment. Because they are going to become property taxpayers, to send their kids to the schools, they are going to contribute to the United Way and to all the charities and the churches, for that Uncle Sam is penalizing them. Common sense says we need marriage tax relief. It is a good bill. I hope that we can pass it soon.”