[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 85 (Tuesday, June 27, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1283-E1284]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 5638, PERMANENT ESTATE TAX RELIEF 
                              ACT OF 2006

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. BETTY McCOLLUM

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thurday, June 22, 2006

  Ms. McCOLLUM of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition 
to H.R. 5638, the latest deficit busting tax giveaway from this 
Republican-controlled House. This enormous Republican tax giveaway 
completely ignores the real economic needs faced by the 99 percent of 
American citizens who work hard, pay their taxes and receive zero 
benefit from this bill. Instead, the priority of this Republican 
Congress is providing special handouts to estates with assets worth 
tens and hundreds of millions of dollars--America's economic elite--and 
then have these tax cuts for the privileged paid for by middle class 
families.
  This legislation should be called the ``Add Debt on America Tax 
Giveaway Act'' since this bill will have the effect of adding nearly 
$800 billion to the national debt--10 percent of the total current 
debt--over the next 10 years. The cost of Republicans cutting and 
running from common sense and fiscal responsibility is that 99 percent 
of Americans will be forced to pay for the debt created by this nearly 
$800 billion tax cut for the super-rich.
  Less than 1 month ago this Congress passed a tax bill providing 
capital gains and dividend tax cuts that primarily benefit families 
making over $1 million a year. Now Republican leaders are giving away 
nearly $800 billion in tax cuts for the 7,500 wealthiest families in 
our country, including an estimated 75 who live in Minnesota. Estates 
valued at over $20 million account for 43 percent of the value of this 
legislation and will receive an average tax break of $5.6 million. This 
so-called virtual elimination of the estate tax is an attack on the 
middle class and an abandonment of equity or fairness in taxation.
  The Bush administration and Republicans in Congress are addicted to 
tax cuts that bust our Federal budget and add trillions of dollars to 
the national debt. Since 2001, Republicans have taken a $5.6 trillion 
Federal budget surplus left by President Clinton and turned it into a 
$3.2 trillion deficit. Republicans in Congress have raised the debt 
limit four times--for a total of $3 trillion--and our Nation now faces 
a national debt approaching $9 trillion. The answer to this fiscal 
disaster is not cut-and-run tax policies that ignore the needs of 99 
percent of American citizens. The response from this Congress should be 
to enforce fiscal discipline--including a restoration of pay-as-you-go 
rules to balance the budget. It is time to return the focus of Congress 
on to the real priorities of middle class American families who are 
being squeezed at the gas pump, at the grocery store, paying college 
tuition and paying for skyrocketing health care costs.
  During the last 8 years, special interest lobbyists for the 7,500 
wealthy estates have been paid $600,000 a year to push the elimination 
of the estate tax Congress. These lobbyists have spun the myth that the 
estate tax hurts small businesses and family farms. However, the New 
York Times searched for a farmer hit by the estate tax but failed to 
find a single farm lost because of the estate tax--not on single family 
farm in all of the United States that needed to be protected because 
this tax giveaway is not about farmers or small business owners, but 
our Nation's most privileged millionaires and billionaires.
  Today, middle class families are being hurt by Republican cut-and-run 
policies that cater to the super-wealthy who hire lobbyists to get 
Congress to pass legislation--like H.R. 5638--that will protect their 
assets tax-free by passing their tax burden on to hard working 
families. Students struggling to afford college received a $12 billion 
cut to student aid, families cannot afford health insurance after 
Republicans have made deep cuts to Medicaid and Medicare, and our 
senior citizens continue to worry about access to affordable 
prescription drugs since this Congress passed a law

[[Page E1284]]

to guarantee profits for pharmaceutical companies and HMOs at taxpayer 
expense. And all Americans will be affected by the rising interest 
rates caused by our out-of-control Federal deficit.
  Mr. Speaker, this bill is fiscally irresponsible, completely 
unnecessary and threatens America's fiscal security, as well as our 
national security. President Bush's fiscal year 2007 budget calls for 
$247 billion in interest payments on our national debt. This is $247 
billion not going to educate our children or keep America secure, but 
instead is going to wealthy investors and foreign governments that have 
purchased our Nation's debt. Now, this Republican Congress is adding 
almost $80 billion more on the national debt, adding to the federal 
budget deficit and our Nation's fiscal insecurity. This is an 
irresponsible and dangerous piece of legislation that makes America 
less secure. I urge my colleagues to reject this latest Republican cut-
and-run tax giveaway and focus on the needs of American families.

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