Political Quotes

“I rise to fulfill a commitment to my constituents but also to express my disappointment with the way in which this House is ignoring our established budget process. I also want to strongly caution my colleagues against continuing down this road of piecemeal tax cuts which threaten to devour our entire surplus before they can be evaluated in the overall budget context. Early in my tenure I made a commitment to those who sent me to Washington to support an issue of great importance to them, marriage penalty relief. At the time, H.R. 6 was the primary vehicle for eliminating the marriage penalty, and I agreed to co-sponsor the bill. I do not believe this bill is perfect, and I do not support the timing of this vote, which flies in the face of reasonable budget decision-making. However, I believe in keeping promises to my constituents, and today I will honor my commitment by voting in favor of H.R. 6. Over 25 million married couples, including 55,000 in my congressional district, experience the marriage penalty when they pay their taxes each year. Our current tax code punishes many married couples by pushing them into a higher tax bracket and taxing the second wage-earner's income at a higher rate. I do not believe our tax code should discriminate against any group, and we certainly should not cause couples to make marriage decisions based on the tax implications of their choice.”