Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I bring H.R. 4626, legislation sponsored by my friend, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Houghton) and myself, legislation called the Encouraging Work and Supporting Marriage Act of 2002 to the floor today. This is important legislation because it helps American families in two ways. First, it makes marriage penalty relief more quickly available to 21 million low and moderate income married working couples. Second, it facilitates the transition from welfare to work by simplifying the work opportunity and welfare-to-work tax credits and making them easier for employers as well as employees to use. This past year, in what we know as the Bush tax cut, last year's tax law, which President Bush signed into law June of 2001, it phased out the marriage tax penalty for 43 million married working couples. This legislation before us today accelerates this relief for low and moderate income married working couples by increasing the standard deduction for joint filers to twice that for singles and reducing the marriage penalty by many low and middle income Americans beginning next year in 2003.”