[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 78 (Thursday, June 13, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1031]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 PERMANENT DEATH TAX REPEAL ACT OF 2002

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                               speech of

                          HON. BETTY McCOLLUM

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, June 6, 2002

  Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, before Congress passes legislation placing 
an enormous drain on the federal budget in future years, we first need 
to address the serious problems with funding homeland defense, 
protecting education, the environment, Social Security and Medicare.
  While the Republican bill permanently repeals the estate tax, it 
provides no immediate relief for small, family-owned estates which are 
the ones most in need. Make no mistake--repealing the estate tax in 
2011 will not stimulate the economy in 2002.
  I support more immediate estate tax relief and voted for the 
substitute that freezes the existing maximum estate tax at the current 
rate of 40 percent and increases the estate tax credit to $3 million, 
$6 million for couples, beginning in 2003, up from $1 million under 
current law.
  I stand today in opposition to H.R. 2143, to make repeal of the 
estate tax permanent. Under last year's Republican tax bill, repeal of 
the estate tax is slowly phased in until 2010. However, because 
Republicans put a sunset on all of their tax-cut provisions to hide 
their true costs, the estate tax will return to the 2001 levels of 
taxation in 2010.
  This permanent repeal of the estate tax benefits only the very 
wealthiest in our society while endangering our long-term economic 
stability and the solvency of Social Security and Medicare. Once again, 
the House Republican Leadership has shown its true priorities by 
helping 22,000 families at the very top of the income scale while 
letting 35 million seniors wait for help with their prescription drug 
bills.
  Currently, the estate tax applies to fewer than 2 percent of all 
estates--less than 50,000 each year. In addition, family-owned 
businesses and farms are already eligible for special tax treatment 
under current law.
  Families in Minnesota's Fourth District want sound investments in our 
future, protecting Social Security and Medicare, and responsible tax 
cuts that provide relief now. For example, the average Minnesota gross 
estate for tax purposes of $5 million or more in 1999 was approximately 
$586,000. I supported a $5 million exemption that would have eliminated 
the estate tax on all but 36 Minnesota estates that owned estate tax.
  I found it embarrassing to open the Washington Post today to see that 
based on the personal assets of the Bush administration Cabinet, a full 
repeal of the estate tax will save the Bush Cabinet $98-$332 million in 
estate tax. The President has taken his full repeal message to family 
farmers in the Midwest telling them he's fighting for them. Yet family 
farmers rarely pay estate tax. In fact, last year the American Farm 
Bureau Federation could not cite a single example of a farm lost 
because of estate taxes when pressed.
  So far, the Republicans' fiscal plan has meant that we have gone from 
projected surpluses of $5.6 trillion to deficits as far as the eye can 
see--not to mention the fact that unless Congress takes action to 
balance the budget, we will have to raise the federal debt limit to 
ensure that the government does not default on its current debts.
  This year alone, the budget deficit, excluding the Social Security 
trust fund, is estimated to be $314 billion. Over the next 10 years, 
the non-Social Security deficit will total $2.6 trillion. If these 
projections are correct, the budget is on course to deplete the entire 
Social Security surplus and the entire Medicare surplus between now and 
2012.

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