[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 74 (Tuesday, June 3, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H3219]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              ESTATE TAXES

  (Mr. EHLERS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to say a few words about estate 
taxes, sometimes called inheritance taxes and more recently referred to 
as death taxes. This is often designated as a tax on the rich, and some 
therefore say we should not cut it. But I wish to clarify some of the 
issues.
  Ninety-three percent of the businesses in my area of west Michigan 
are small businesses, having under 50 employees. Estate taxes, contrary 
to the public's perception, do not apply just to Bill Gates and others 
of that sort, but they apply to a majority of the small businesses and 
farmers in this Nation because, when they die, they have substantial 
assets in their businesses.
  The saying is that farmers are always cash poor but land rich. That 
is certainly true. And it is unfortunate that today many farmers are 
not able to pass their farms on to their children. Part of the farm 
must be sold in order to pay the estate taxes before the farm can be 
passed on to their children.
  Even modest family owned businesses and farms can fall into the range 
of estate taxable assets, causing great financial hardship. Ironically 
the truly wealthy families are generally better able to avoid estate 
tax liability because they can afford to hire experts to reduce their 
estate taxes, while the small business people and the farmers do not 
have the money to hire that kind of expertise.
  Furthermore, the top estate tax rate of 55 percent is taxing money 
which has already been taxed, giving a high tax rate of approximately 
73 percent.
  I believe the estate tax is too high. It is unjust and we should 
change this so that those who own small businesses and farms can in 
fact retain them and pass them on to their children upon their death.

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