Senate Floor Speech
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison
July 18, 2000 -- Page: S7108

MRS. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, we are not talking about a tax cut today. We are talking about a tax correction. We are talking about 21 million married couples in this country having tax equity.

We have heard the arguments: This is a tax for the rich. Is a schoolteacher who makes $30,000 a year and a policeman who makes $32,000 a year a couple who are rich? That is what the other side would have you believe. They think this is a tax cut for the rich.

I ask the question: Does a schoolteacher and a policeman believe the Federal Government can decide better how they should spend their own money than they can decide for themselves? That is what it gets down to.

When I hear the other side saying this is going to cost the Government too much, I think: Who do they think this money belongs to? Do they think it belongs to the people who earn it or do they think it belongs to people in Washington, DC, who have never met the families who are paying these taxes? I think the money belongs to the people who earn it.

We are looking at a $2 trillion non-Social Security surplus. We are talking about tax cuts. With the death tax and the marriage tax penalty relief that we have given in the last week in this Senate, it would be 10 percent of the projected non-Social Security surplus--10 cents on the dollar.

What are we going to do with this money if we don't let people keep more of the money they earn? Are we going to dream up new programs that will not affect these people? I don't think that is the right approach.

We are talking about tax relief for hard-working American families--people who make $30,000 a year or $32,000 a year or $35,000 a year--because we believe marriage should not be a taxable event. We believe people should be treated the same if they get married. If they are two working people who are trying to save their money to buy their first home, they should have the right to do it with their own money, especially since we are talking about 10 percent of the non-Social Security surplus.

We are talking about being good stewards of taxpayer dollars today. We are talking about letting hard-working families keep the money they earn to do a little bit better for their children or to be able to start a family or buy their American dream home. That is what we are talking about. We believe the family can make the decisions for themselves better than someone in Washington.

Marriage penalty relief is what we are talking about. Tax equity is what we are talking about. We are talking about fairness today for hard-working Americans.