[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 47 (Tuesday, April 19, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E702-E703]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                DEATH TAX REPEAL PERMANENCY ACT OF 2005

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                            HON. TODD TIAHRT

                               of kansas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 13, 2005

  Mr. TIAHRT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 8, 
the Death Tax Repeal Permanency Act of 2005. This bill would put an end 
to the estate tax, commonly referred to as the death tax.
  My only disappointment in voting to eliminate the death tax this year 
is that we must again wait for the Senate to follow suit. The House has 
already voted to permanently repeal this tax in both the 107th Congress 
and the 108th Congress. Unfortunately, the Senate has not been able to 
pass this permanent repeal.
  I am very pleased, however, that the House has once again listened to 
the people and will try to nail the coffin shut on the death tax. 
Asking families to pay taxes on what is left behind when a loved one 
dies is simply not the right way for a government to collect taxes.
  Throughout our history, Americans have worked vigorously to achieve 
great success despite extraordinary hardships. Farmers have tilled the 
earth, inventors have exercised their ingenuity, builders have 
constructed, entrepreneurs have established businesses, and in the 
process of becoming successful, wealth is created. When a person 
successfully pursues a dream and wisely manages resources over a 
lifetime, the federal government should not reward those 
accomplishments by seizing a significant portion of what he intended to 
pass along to the family.
  As is often the case, family farmers or small business owners make 
plans to pass the family business to their children after they die. 
Unfortunately, due to burdensome death taxes, there are countless 
examples of families who have been forced to sell the business or 
purchase it back from the government.

[[Page E703]]

  As a result, a business that has been in a family for generations can 
be lost overnight because of the enormous burden of the death tax. And 
when a business leaves its family roots, there can be a loss of pride 
in the fundamental traditions that helped make the business successful. 
This is not the legacy parents want to leave their children and 
grandchildren.
  Aside from the harmful effects the death tax has on family small 
businesses, there is an inherent injustice in re-taxing assets. Because 
taxes have already been paid on accumulated gains over a lifetime, the 
death tax constitutes a double taxation. Re-taxing a person's assets 
when they die is equivalent to purchasing from the government what 
already belongs to a family.
  Resources that otherwise would have been utilized to hire more 
employees or invest in capital are underused when families are forced 
to make alternative plans for dealing with the death tax. This results 
in fewer jobs and a less robust economy.
  According to the Joint Economic Committee, the death tax results in a 
reduction of stock in the economy by nearly $500 billion. When 
businesses cease to grow efficiently, fewer jobs are made available to 
the unemployed.
  South-central Kansas has experienced several years of high 
unemployment following the economic downturn after 9/11. We must do all 
we can to help bring jobs back to those who need them. Permanently 
eliminating the death tax is one way we can help the economy fully 
rebound, which means more high-quality, high-paying jobs for Americans.
  Because small businesses are so important in providing jobs for 
Americans, the death tax is a tax on jobs. Small, family-owned 
businesses are especially vulnerable to the death tax because most 
small-business owners have the entire value of their business in their 
estate.
  According to one study, more than 70 percent of family businesses do 
not survive the second generation, and 87 percent do not make it to the 
third generation. The threat of the death tax forces small-business 
owners to pay for expensive ``estate planning'' just to keep the 
business in the family. Instead of helping families maintain and grow 
their small businesses, the Federal Government will be able to seize 
about half the business unless the death tax is repealed.
  I urge my colleagues to join me today in once again voting to end 
this tax that has caused so much harm to so many American families.

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