Committee on Ways and Means, Full Committee, 3-21-01 Testimony

Statement of the Hon. James A. Barcia, M.C., Michigan

Testimony Before the House Committee on Ways and Means

Hearing on President's Tax Relief Proposals that Affect Individuals

March 21, 2001

I want to thank you for granting me this opportunity to testify before you on this issue that is of such critical importance to our nation's married couples. My comments will be brief.

As the lead Democratic cosponsor of the Marriage Penalty Elimination Act, I would like to recognize the leadership of Congressman Weller, and I want to thank him for giving me the opportunity to do my part to ensure that one day the Marriage Penalty is taken out of the tax code. It has truly been an honor to work with him.

Without his leadership, vision and perseverance we frankly would not be here this morning

Let me begin by saying that - fundamentally - the Marriage Penalty is an issue of tax fairness. Congressman Weller once said that the only form someone can file to avoid the marriage tax penalty is the paperwork for divorce.

That's not the message that Congress should send to working families across our nation.

Marriage is a sacred institution and our tax code should not discourage it by making married couples pay more.

As most of you know, the Marriage Penalty occurs when a couple filing a joint return experiences a greater tax liability than would occur if each of the two people were to file as single individuals.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that more than 25 million married couples suffer under this burden.

The penalty harms the pocketbooks of working families - with an average couple losing about $1,400 under the current system.

The bill that we recently introduced will fix the grave injustice of our current tax code that results in married couples paying higher taxes than they would if they had remained single.

For me, this bill strikes to the heart of middle income tax relief. These are the people who are the backbone of our communities, these are the people who need tax relief the most.

With a record budget surplus, the time is long overdue for Congress to remove the marriage penalty from the tax code.

This bipartisan bill achieves that goal - and I know that all of us present here today who support the measure will not stop working until this legislation is signed into law.

Thank you.