[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 30 (Thursday, February 25, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E295]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             INTRODUCTION OF THE DEATH TAX ELIMINATION ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JENNIFER DUNN

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 25, 1999

  Ms. DUNN. Mr. Speaker, it's been said that only with our government 
are you given a ``certificate at birth, a license at marriage, and a 
bill at death.`` Today I am introducing the Death Tax Elimination Act, 
which seeks to phase-out the onerous death tax. The death tax rates 
will be reduced by 5 percentage points each year until the highest rate 
bracket--55 percent--reaches zero in 2010. As these rates are lowered 
to zero, more and more families will no longer be forced to give the 
family savings to Uncle Sam and the family business will be saved. In 
an era when the productivity of American workers is creating huge 
budget surpluses, it is incomprehensible for this tax to live on. The 
death tax deserves to die.
  One of the most compelling aspects of the American dream is to make 
life better for your children and loved ones. Yet, the current tax 
treatment of individuals and families at death is so onerous that when 
one dies, their children are many times forced to sell and turn over 
more than half of their inheritance just to pay the taxes. It takes 
place at an agonizing time for the family; when families should be 
grieving for a loved one with friends and relatives, rather than 
spending painful hours with lawyers and bureaucrats.
  By confiscating between 37 percent and 55 percent of an estate, the 
death tax punishes life-long habits of savings, discourages 
entrepreneurship and capital formation, penalizes families, and has an 
enormous negative effect on other tax revenues. Americans today are 
living longer and enjoying their retirement. At a time when this 
Congress is discussing the future of Social Security, and how to 
personalize and modernize the system, we also need to encourage private 
investment. We should be encouraging people to plan for their future 
with retirement plans and IRAs, rather than encouraging reckless 
spending and a me-first attitude. This country was born on the promise 
of hope and opportunity, and by taxing families and businesses at their 
most agonizing time, we destroy their hope for the future.
  By today's tax system, it is easier and cheaper to sell a business 
before death rather than try to pass it on after. More than 70 percent 
of family business and farms do not survive through the second 
generation. Nine out of ten successors whose family-owned businesses 
failed within three years of the principal owner's death said trouble 
paying estate taxes contributed to the company's demise. For family 
owned business, this is a tax just because the business is changing 
ownership due to the death of an owner.
  Aside from being a source of revenue, another express purpose of the 
estate tax was to break up large concentrations of wealth. 75 years 
later, however, reality suggests that rather than being an important 
means for promoting equal economic opportunity, the estate tax is in 
fact a barrier to economic advancement for people of all economic 
circumstances. In effect, the death tax, which was established to 
redistribute wealth, hurts those it was meant to help--namely, 
America's working men and women. When small businesses close their 
doors, loyal employees lose their jobs.
  The saying goes that death and taxes are the only certainties in 
life. I believe it is ridiculous that the government force the American 
people to deal with both on the same day. Families should be allowed--
and encouraged--to save for future generations. I invite my colleagues 
to join John Tanner and me in our bi-partisan effort to eliminate this 
detrimental and cruel tax.

                          ____________________