Blake Moore: “I rise today to discuss H.R. 6, the Marriage Penalty Relief Act of 2000. The bill is the right thing to do for many…”

“I rise today to discuss H.R. 6, the Marriage Penalty Relief Act of 2000. The bill is the right thing to do for many reasons and I will support its passage. This bill will provide needed tax relief for married couples by reducing the marriage tax penalty while strengthening the financial resources of the American family and fostering economic prosperity into the 21st century. Currently, forty-two million married taxpayers, including almost 67,000 families in my district, will gain from the standard deduction increases in this bill; the average tax cut for married couples provided by the bill would be nearly $500 per year--money that will go a long way toward paying for food, housing, and clothes for their children; and the bill will significantly help low- and middle-income working families. I will be voting for this legislation; however, I will be doing so with strong reservations. I have deep concerns that this Congress has yet to act on a budget resolution this year and, as such, we have no knowledge how this legislation will fit into our other collective commitments to extend the solvency of Social Security and Medicare and reduce our national debt. Congress should first pass a budget resolution that puts into place a framework to strengthen Social Security and Medicare and pay down the debt before enacting a big tax cut--in stages or all at once--that spends the surplus. That is why I will also be voting for the substitute bill and the motion to recommit.”