[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 82 (Thursday, June 12, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H3725]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   INSIDIOUS EFFECTS OF THE DEATH TAX

  (Mr. SESSIONS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, the death tax, known to the IRS as the 
estate tax, has profound effects on the American public, both direct 
and indirect. Directly, it forces the liquidation or dismantling of a 
lifetime of work, building of a family farm or a small business. 
Indirectly, and more insidiously, it forces taxpayers to undergo 
complex, expensive planning with lawyers and accountants to help 
minimize its bite. Workers are laid off when a firm or a farm is 
dismantled, and local economies are disrupted. This distorts economic 
activity and increases the cost of doing business in communities.
  Throughout the Fifth District of Texas, and this country, the very 
people who deal in these income distributions are faced with this and 
really what it is needed to do is to help people rather than putting 
them on the lower rung of the economic ladder. It harms. The death tax 
hurts America and it hurts everyone. I am urging this Congress to 
repeal the death tax now.

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