often over the last several years, many of us have asked a very fundamental question, that is, is it right, is it fair, that under our Tax Code that millions of married working couples pay on average about $1,700 in higher taxes just…

A vote for the Democratic substitute is a vote for an automatic tax increase that Congress has hands off of. We spend too much. We trigger a tax increase without having to vote on it is what the Democrats are proposing. That would be a $42…

Mr. Speaker, before recognizing our next distinguished speaker here, I would note that the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pascrell) consistently voted no on eliminating the marriage tax penalty and what he considers a cost to Uncle Sam, to…

Let us get back to why we need to make permanent the elimination of the marriage tax penalty. Let me give an example of a couple in Joliet, Illinois, who suffered the marriage tax penalty. A working couple from Joliet, Jose and Magdalene…

That is what is frustrating, and one of the reasons I know I came to Congress in 1994 and one of the causes we in the House Republican majority have been working towards, is finding ways to help working families have some extra spending…

Or make improvements to the house. Families struggle. The gentleman from Arizona, the point he made about how when you figure out what the amount the marriage tax penalty comes out to, it is real money for real people. You take Jose and…

But the bottom line is the marriage tax penalty is a real issue for ordinary people back in Illinois, Georgia and Nebraska and throughout this country. In the last few days I have heard some suggestions, particularly from some of my…

I find it is always interesting that my Democratic friends advocate permanent increases in spending and they are always first in line to advocate permanent increases in taxes, but they will fight tooth and nail any permanent tax cut. That…

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…

Mr. Speaker, briefly responding to the dialogue of my colleague and member of the Committee on Ways and Means, I would note again that he is absolutely right. Today's debate is about eliminating the marriage tax penalty, simplifying the…

The bottom line is today we want to eliminate the marriage tax penalty, and today we want to help those who are on welfare go to work.

this week we have an important piece of legislation which is coming to the floor, a product of the Committee on Ways and Means, legislation which is entitled H.R. 4626, Encouraging Work and Supporting Marriage Act of 2002. Essentially this…

I come to the well today to draw attention to an issue which affects over 100 million American taxpayers. This past year because of the leadership of President Bush and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hastert) and the House Republican…

I urge and ask my colleagues in this House to join together in recognition of these workers in the New York Customs Service office and that they give them the recognition they deserve as well as the expression of gratitude of our Nation.

Seventy-nine percent of those who benefit from the rate reduction at the top bracket... are self-employed entrepreneurs and small business people. They are not rich people. These are folks down on Main Street. They are real people that…

Three million families with children no longer pay Federal income taxes because of the Bush tax cut.

I salute the gentleman from Missouri for his leadership in helping expand education savings accounts. I think of thousands of families in the district that I represent, the South Side of Chicago and the south suburbs, who now have the…

Reclaiming my time, again I want to commend the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Hulshof) and the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Ryan) for their leadership on making permanent what we call the Bush tax cut and what the real impact is on…

As President Bush noted this past weekend, the tax cut that the President led, initiated and our Congress passed and was signed into law in June expires in less than 10 years, and tonight we felt it was important to talk about the impact…

in closing, again, we have a very important vote on Thursday. Thursday morning this House of Representatives is going to cast a vote on whether or not to make what we call the Bush tax cut permanent. A vote against permanency is a vote for…

Let me ask the gentleman this question. Are you telling me that prior to the Bush tax cut, that self-employed people, entrepreneurs, small businesspeople actually paid at a higher tax rate than IBM or any other major corporations?

say that the Bush tax cut were to expire and the House and the Senate were to fail to pass legislation to make permanent the Bush tax cut, eliminating the marriage penalty, wiping out the death tax, across-the-board tax reductions, helping…

I represent the south side of Chicago and the south suburbs, of course, an area that is going from farmland to subdivision in many cases. We have a lot of family farmers in the Frankfurt and Mokena area, in the Manhattan area in Will…

Yes. The gentleman from Wisconsin is absolutely correct. If you think about it, who are those families? Who are those individuals? They are low-income Americans. The biggest beneficiaries of the Bush tax cut, what we passed this past year…

I commend the chairman for bringing to the floor a bill which received bipartisan support in the Committee on Ways and Means, a bill which was supported by two-thirds of the members of the committee, both Democrat and Republican. It is…