[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 69 (Wednesday, June 7, 2000)]
[House]
[Page H3932]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PRESERVE THE AMERICAN DREAM BY VOTING TO REPEAL DEATH TAX
(Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland asked and was given permission to address
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland. Mr. Speaker, in a movie called Meet Joe
Black, Death disguises himself as a young man named Joe Black so as to
better observe life on Earth. While watching a dinner party, one guest
remarks to another that the only 2 certainties in life are death and
taxes. Joe Black responds, death and taxes, what an interesting
pairing.
For years, the IRS has thought so too. Americans are currently
subjected to the death tax, a law that taxes families up to 60 percent
of their loved one's savings, or the worth of their farm or family
business, upon their death. This unfair tax prevents more than 70
percent of America's small businesses and family farms being passed
from one generation to the text.
This week, the House will vote on legislation to repeal the death
tax. I urge my colleagues to support preserving the American dream by
voting to end the death tax.
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