[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 28 (Thursday, March 6, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H783-H784]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  DEATH TAX IS PARTICULARLY METTLESOME

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Shimkus] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SHIMKUS. Mr. Speaker, it is no secret that the Tax Code hurts our 
economy. We all know that Americans who try to save get penalized and 
that most Americans need a tax attorney to help them file their 
returns.
  I want to speak briefly, however, on a part of the Tax Code that is 
particularly mettlesome to constituents in my district: The death tax, 
which was first enacted in 1916 on estates larger than $50,000, which 
in today's dollars would be about $720,000 at a top tax rate of 10 
percent.
  Today, under the tax and spend policies of the past, this tax has 
grown to include estates valued as low as $600,000 with a top tax rate 
of 55 percent.
  The goal of this tax is to prevent families from amassing huge 
estates and to promote wealth redistribution. That may sound like a 
good goal on paper, but in practice this tax does not have that effect. 
In fact, the estate tax hurts middle class, family owned businesses and 
farms by making it harder for the business to be passed on to the next 
generation.
  Back in my district, in Illinois, the Buesinger family, from 
Christian County, have recently found out how terrible this tax can be.

                              {time}  1230

  After Glen Buesinger, Sr. passed away, his three sons and wife were 
left to manage the farm. The family almost lost their farm and is still 
hurting from the costs, aggravation, and frustration this tax has 
placed on them.
  The rich in this country, at which this law is aimed, simply evade 
this tax legally by using complex estate planning techniques and tricky 
lawyers. Since many of these techniques are costly and require long 
lead times to implement, those with the largest estates have the 
greatest ability to engage in this practice. A disproportionate burden 
of the death tax falls on those with recently acquired assets, such as 
farmers and small business owners.

[[Page H784]]

  Imagine, if you will, owning a family farm in southwestern Illinois 
which you have worked for 30 years. You have built and developed the 
land with the hope of passing it along to your children so that they 
may have a better life. But after your death, your children tragically 
find that the farm will not be staying in the family. In fact, most of 
the farm must be sold off to pay the Federal taxes due on the property.
  This tax costs Americans a great deal back in Illinois but the 
sacrifice shows up for very little in Washington tax coffers. According 
to the Office of Management and Budget, the estate tax raises little 
more than 1 percent of the total Federal revenues. In addition, costs 
to the Government to collect this tax can be as high as 65 cents of 
every dollar.
  Mr. Speaker, this tax policy is not an effective way to help America 
create jobs and grow the economy. This policy taxes the middle class 
and destroys the dreams of countless families. It is time we abolish 
this tax and start letting Americans know that their dreams can come 
true and not end up in the hands of some big-spending bureaucrats in 
Washington.

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