[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 100 (Thursday, July 27, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1364]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     IN RECOGNITION OF NORMAN PAPPAS, FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT OF THE 
                            ENTERPRISE GROUP

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOE KNOLLENBERG

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 27, 2000

  Mr. KNOLLENBERG. Mr. Speaker, one of our most revered institutions, 
the family-owned business, is under assault from the federal estate tax 
(death tax).
  According to the Center for the Study of Taxation, 70 percent of 
family-owned businesses fail to make it to the second generation and 87 
percent don't make it to the third. The death tax is one of the major 
contributors to this disturbing statistic. To pay this unfair tax, 
which can reach as high as 55 percent of the value of an estate, many 
family-owned businesses must be liquidated or sold off entirely after 
the owner dies.
  For several years, a bipartisan coalition in Congress has worked to 
provide relief from the death tax. In fact, on June 9, 2000, the House 
of Representatives overwhelmingly passed H.R. 8, The Death Tax 
Elimination Act. This much-needed bill would strengthen family-owned 
businesses and encourage savings and investment by repealing the death 
tax over a ten-year period.
  Unfortunately, it appears as though business owners will have to 
continue waiting for significant relief from the death tax, as 
President Clinton has indicated that he will veto H.R. 8 if it reaches 
his desk.
  That being said, there are still many steps that business owners can 
take to minimize the negative impact of the death tax. Norman Pappas, 
founder and president of The Enterprise Group, a company located in 
Southfield, MI, has recent written an important book that I 
enthusiastically recommend to every business owner who want to ensure 
that his company remains strong and is kept in the family after he 
dies.
  Mr. Pappas' book, ``Passing the Bucks--Protecting Your Wealth from 
One Generation to the Next,'' reveals the secrets of effective business 
succession and estate tax planning that can help reduce or even 
eliminate the risk of losing most of the assets a business owner worked 
so hard to accumulate.
  For the last 30 years, The Enterprise Group and other financial and 
estate planners have helped business owners protect what is rightfully 
theirs. For example, Mr. Pappas has assisted over 1,500 businessmen and 
women to traverse the complicated practice of business succession and 
estate planning as they wrestle with the federal tax burden. Mr. 
Pappers' expertise experience in solving the complicated financial 
problems of family-owned businesses is evident throughout ``Passing the 
Bucks.'' One of the primary lessons we have learned is that we must 
eliminate the death tax and I am proud that we have done just that in 
this House.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge the accomplishments of Mr. 
Pappas and his colleagues in the practice of estate planning and to 
commend his efforts to protect family-owned businesses from the onerous 
provisions of the death tax.

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