Norman Sisisky

Marriage Penalty and Family Tax Relief Act

Marriage Penalty Elimination. This bill would eliminate the "marriage penalty" in the income tax laws by the year 2009 and double the per child income tax credit to $1,000 by the year 2006. Representative Benjamin Gilman (R-N.Y.) explained that the bill was needed because the "current Tax Code punishes married couples where both partners work by driving them into a higher tax bracket. The marriage penalty taxes the income of the second wage earner at a much higher rate than if they were taxed as an individual...." The current tax code, said Gilman, "penalizes marriage and encourages couples to live together without any formal legal commitment to each other."

The House passed H.R. 6 on March 29, 2001 by a vote of 282-144 (Roll Call 75). We have assigned pluses to the yeas.

Flake Substitute H.Amdt. 20 to H CON RES 83

Fiscal 2002 Budget -- Conservative Substitute. This conservative substitute to the big-spending Republican majority's 10-year budget resolution would trim discretionary spending by about $150 billion and increase the tax cut from $1.6 trillion to $2.2 trillion. The conservative budget substitute would still increase overall federal spending, but it is significantly better than the Republican leadership budget it would replace.

The House rejected the substitute to H. Con, Res. 83 on March 28, 2001 by a vote of 81-341 (Roll Call 68). We have assigned pluses to the yeas.

Congressional Budget for Fiscal Year 2002

Fiscal 2002 Budget -- House Progressive Caucus Substitute. The annual budget proposal by the House Progressive Caucus, a group affiliated with the Socialist International, would slash military spending but increase overall spending in the already bloated Republican leadership budget resolution (H. Con. Res. 83) by about $180 billion over 10 years. The substitute would also gut the $1.6 trillion tax cut. The Progressive Caucus substitute is an important litmus test of radical socialism for members of Congress.

The House rejected the substitute to H. Con. Res. 83 on March 28, 2001 by a vote of 79-343 (Roll Call 66). We have assigned pluses to the nays.

Economic Growth and Tax Relief Act of 2001

Bush Tax Cut Bill. Under this measure (H.R. 3), the number of tax brackets would be ratcheted down from five to four, resulting in tax brackets of 10 percent, 15 percent, 25 percent, and 33 percent. The legislation, part of President Bush's tax cut plan, would cut taxes by $947.4 billion over fiscal years 2001-11. The income tax cut would gradually reduce all income tax brackets over the 2001-11 period, and a rate reduction for the lowest bracket would be retroactive to the beginning of the 2001 calendar year.

The House passed H.R. 3 on March 8, 2001 by a vote of 230-198 (Roll Call 45). We have assigned pluses to the yeas.

Read More Pro-Freedom Vote: Yes Vote Cast: No

Providing for Congressional Disapproval of the Rule Submitted by the Department of Labor Under Chapter 8 of Title 5, United States Code, Relating to Ergonomics

Ergonomics Regulation Repeal. Congress had long demonstrated a complete lack of interest in enacting ex-pensive and unconstitutional national ergonomics standards. So President Bill Clinton dumped onerous OSHA-instituted ergonomics rules on the American people in the closing days of his administration, and arranged for those rules to take effect a mere four days before the inauguration of George W. Bush. "Ergonomics" is the design of equipment and work environments to best suit a worker's health and productivity, and ergonomic regulations are generally federal rules mandating standards of worker comfort in the workplace. Representative Tom Davis (R-Va.) described the expansive scope of the OSHA regulations: "By OSHA's own estimates, this ergonomic rule will cover over 102 million employees, 18 million jobs, and 6.1 million businesses and cost almost $100 billion a year to implement." Passage of S. J. Res. 6 would provide congressional disapproval of the OSHA ergonomics rule and declare that the "rule shall have no force or effect."

The House adopted S. J. Res. 6 on March 7, 2001 by a vote of 223-206 (Roll Call 33). We have assigned pluses to the yeas.

Read More Pro-Freedom Vote: Yes Vote Cast: Yes

Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act

Bankruptcy Reform. As the National Chamber of Commerce noted in its analysis of the bankruptcy reform bill, this legislation was aimed at the "more than 100,000 bankruptcy filers [who] are abusing the system every year by discharging debts that they have the ability to repay." Under this underlying bipartisan bill, "Abusers of the bankruptcy system, those median income who earn more than the and can afford to repay a significant portion of their debts, will be required to pay back what they can afford." This legislation would allow persons saddled with unexpected medical bills or other hardships a fresh start through bankruptcy while generally preventing the abusive or habitual use of bankruptcy by sheltering fewer assets from seizure under bankruptcy proceedings.

The House passed H.R. 333 on March 1, 2001 by a vote of 306-108 (Roll Call 25). We have assigned pluses to the yeas.

Read More Pro-Freedom Vote: Yes Vote Cast: Yes

Rail Passenger Disaster Family Assistance Act

Federal Assistance to Railway Accident Victims. This legislation would institute a new program under the National Transportation Safety Board to provide assistance to families of victims of passenger railway accidents. The assistance would take the form of a toll-free number victims' families can call for help, as well as funding for counseling programs through a designated non-profit organization.

The House passed H.R. 554 on February 14, 2001 by a vote of 404-4 (Roll Call 15). We have assigned pluses to the nays.

Read More Pro-Freedom Vote: No Vote Cast: Yes

Electronic Commerce Enhancement Act

Commerce Subsidies. This bill (H.R. 524) would require the National Institute of Standards and Technology to institute a "pilot program" to assist small- and medium-sized businesses with the conduct of electronic commerce (sales over the Internet). Although virtually all electronic commerce is "interstate," making the legislation nominally constitutional, the program is completely unneeded. There are thousands of small businesses that have prospered -- and even become big businesses -- without federal intervention on their behalf.

The House passed the bill on February 14, 2001 by a vote of 409-6 (Roll Call 14). We have assigned pluses to the nays.

Read More Pro-Freedom Vote: No Vote Cast: Yes

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Session Voting Records

107th Congress