[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 2498]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                           KILL THE DEATH TAX

  (Mr. GIBBONS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, we have all experienced the loss of a loved 
one. It is a time when family and friends come together to console each 
other in an effort to ease the sorrow. Unfortunately, it is also a time 
when the callous Federal tax collector comes knocking. Today when 
someone dies, the Federal Government assesses a tax of up to 55 percent 
on the value of their estate. As a result, approximately 70 percent of 
family-owned businesses and small farms are not passed on to the next 
generation, another loss that the grieving family and American society 
as a whole must endure.
  But today, Mr. Speaker, we have the opportunity to ease this unfair 
burden. The Wage and Employment Growth Act reduces the top estate tax 
from 55 percent down to 50 by 2002 and will further reduce all rates by 
1 percent in the years 2003 and 2004. Mr. Speaker, 77 percent of the 
American public believes the death tax is unfair and should be 
repealed. This will be one loss that the American family will not 
grieve for.

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