[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 18 (Wednesday, February 12, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E229]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         REPEAL THE ESTATE TAX

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. BOB STUMP

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 12, 1997

  Mr. STUMP. Mr. Speaker, among the taxes the Internal Revenue Service 
collects, the estate tax ranks as one of the most unfair. With top 
rates reaching as high as 55 percent, the estate tax can and does force 
the sale of family businesses, farms, and ranches to satisfy the tax 
collectors.
  Mr. Speaker, I think it's safe to say that most people work for 
themselves and their families. They do not spend long hours and many 
years building a successful business or family farm so that when they 
die, the Government can step in and take the fruits of their labors. 
Yet, that is exactly what the estate tax allows.
  Though they account for only 1 percent of Federal revenues, estate 
taxes have forced the sale of thousands of farms, ranches, and 
businesses throughout this country. We can only guess at the jobs and 
economic potential lost through this process. One study concluded that 
one-third of all small business owners will have to sell all or part of 
their businesses to pay estate taxes--70 percent of that group will 
have to cut their work force.
  Estate taxes hit the agricultural sector particularly hard. American 
agriculture is filled with farmers who are rich only on paper. These 
``paper millionaires'' know that the value of their farms is not in the 
IRS valuation of their equipment and land, but in the farm's ability to 
produce agricultural products. Farmers make their living growing food 
and fiber, not speculating in land and equipment.
  Mr. Speaker, I am today introducing legislation to repeal the estate 
tax. After a lifetime of hard work and sacrifice, the family business 
owner, farmer, and rancher should not be faced with the prospect of 
losing it all to the tax man.

                          ____________________