[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 32 (Thursday, February 27, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H1442]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     COMPLETE DEATH TAX ELIMINATION

  (Mr. BURNS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BURNS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in favor of tax relief for small 
business owners and farmers in the 12th District of Georgia and in 
America.
  Small business owners and farmers in my State have always assumed 
their fair share of our Nation's tax burden. Fortunately, because of 
the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001, these 
hardworking men and women will not bear the burden of additional 
taxation in death, at least not for a few more years.
  Unfortunately, Congress did not finish the job, and many of my 
constituents, real working Americans, will face the so-called death tax 
once again in 2011. That is why this morning I signed on as a cosponsor 
of H.R. 57, the Death Tax Permanency Act of 2003. I believe that the 
gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. Dunn) has put together a fine piece of 
legislation, and I am proud to cosponsor this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, my constituents are not rich. They work hard, building 
on the American dream of freedom in pursuit of happiness. They also 
expect to leave something to their children. Without complete death tax 
elimination, farmers and small business owners are left out of that 
dream. The death tax is restrictive. It is an obstacle to the American 
dream and it is unfair and inappropriate.

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