[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 7]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 10395-10397]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                   DEATH TAX ELIMINATION ACT OF 2000

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. J.C. WATTS, JR.

                              of oklahoma

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, June 9, 2000

  Mr. WATTS of Oklahoma. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of 
H.R. 8, the Death Tax Elimination Act. I am proud to have joined many 
of my colleagues as a co-sponsor of this long-overdue, corrective 
legislation. However, a few of my colleagues have called eliminating 
the death tax ``unfair.''

  Mr. Speaker, what is fair about forcing a grieving family to worry 
about losing the family business or farm to the IRS, especially when 
they have just lost a loved one? Did the government put in the long 
hours and make the sacrifices to build this business or work this farm? 
Did the government work hard to leave a legacy to its children? The 
answer, Mr. Speaker, is clearly ``no'' but when a person dies in this 
country, an outrageous tax kicks in on the poor soul's estate.
  The death tax is also ``unfair'' because it is a form of double 
taxation. Small business owners and family farmers pay taxes on their 
investments and work throughout their lifetime, including but not 
limited to income tax, capital gains tax, and even property tax. And 
those who claim this will only benefit the rich have not talked to 
farmers and small business owners in Oklahoma.
  Mr. Speaker, it comes down to this. The harder you work, the more you 
sacrifice to invest in your farm or small business, and what is your 
reward if you succeed? Your reward is to give the government a larger 
piece of what you had hoped to pass on to your heirs. In fact, the 
government's take goes all the way to up to 55 percent--that is over 
half of the worth--of your estate. The government even imposes an 
additional five percent surcharge tax on top of this if your estate 
reaches $10 million or more--reaching a whopping marginal tax rate of 
60 percent. Mr. Speaker, how did the government earn the right to over 
half of what you have spent a lifetime to build? How did the government 
become more entitled to your estate than your heirs?
  The Republican Congress is working to repeal this unfair tax so that 
family businesses don't have to be sold to pay a tax bill, but instead 
can be passed down to children and grandchildren, and family farms can 
continue to exist. With this kind of tax penalty, it is no wonder that 
less than half of all family-owned businesses survive the death of a 
founder and only about five percent survive to the third generation. 
Under our current tax laws, it is cheaper for someone to sell a 
business before dying and pay the capital gains tax than to pass it on 
to his children. This is a grave injustice that cannot continue.
  It has been said only in America can one be given a certificate at 
birth, a license at marriage and a bill at death. The death tax is 
contrary to the free-market principles on which this Nation was 
founded. We should be encouraging businesses, especially small 
businesses, not creating obstacles for their existence.
  The Republican Congress has a track record of being pro-family and 
pro-business. We take family businesses very seriously. When mom-and-
pop shops are closing up because of an outdated tax policy, it requires 
leadership and determination to remedy the situation. I am pleased to 
be a part of this effort.
  No one should have to meet the undertaker and the IRS on the same 
day. The time is now to end, once and for all, the Federal death tax. 
The winners will be consumers, small businesses, family farms and 
loving families all over the country who have enough to think about 
when there is a death in their household. Paying Uncle Sam should not 
be part of the grieving process.
  I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 8, the Death Tax Elimination 
Act.

[[Page 10396]]



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                     RECOGNIZING DANIEL L. WOODALL

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JOSEPH M. HOEFFEL

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 12, 2000

  Mr. HOEFFEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Daniel L. 
Woodall for being honored with the Unico Gold Medal of Achievement 
Award. Dan was chosen for his special contributions to humanity by the 
Philadelphia Chapter of UNICO. I am pleased to acknowledge his 
outstanding accomplishments.
  Mr. Woodall began his association with Laborers' Local 135 in 1970 
and has been active in many positions in the union. One of Dan's first 
leadership positions was in 1978 when he served as a delegate to the 
Philadelphia Laborers' District Council where currently he serves as 
the President. He has served as Trustee and Co-Chair for the Laborers' 
District Council Construction Industry Pension Fund and the Laborers' 
Education and Training/Apprenticeship Fund. He has also been Co-
Chairman of the Chester and Montgomery County Building Trades Committee 
and was elected Alternate Vice-President for the Laborers' Eastern 
Pennsylvania States AFL-CIO. In 1999, Mr. Woodall was appointed by 
Governor Ridge to the Pennsylvania State Apprenticeship and Training 
Council, and currently serves on the Montgomery County Work Force and 
Investment Board for the Training and Employment Program.
  Mr. Woodall is also involved in a variety of civic and charitable 
events in the local community. Some of his activities include raising 
funds for the Cerebral Palsy Labor All-Star Classic and participating 
in events for the Boys Town of Italy and Unico Salute to Labor. In 
short, Dan not only contributes significantly in the labor movement but 
is also a man of action and integrity in his community.
  The Philadelphia Chapter of UNICO has wisely chosen Dan Woodall as 
the recipient of this award. Dan is truly a man who espouses quality 
union leadership, civic endeavors, family harmony and fits the Unico 
motto, ``Service Above Self.''

                          ____________________



                         RECOGNIZING CELI ADAMS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. LYNN C. WOOLSEY

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 12, 2000

  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Celi Adams, a 
life-long resident of Petaluma, CA, who for the past 12 years has 
operated a program that provides free training for families and friends 
who struggle daily to provide home care for gravely ill loved ones. Ms. 
Adams was recently selected as a 2000 Community Health Leader by The 
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. She is one of only ten individuals 
nationally to be selected to receive the nation's highest honor for 
community health leadership, which includes a $100,000 award to 
continue her work.
  Ms. Adams, a former cancer nurse, first recognized the need to 
educate people around quality home care when she was part of a group 
caring for a close friend with AIDS. After this experience, she quit 
her nursing job and co-founded Home Care Companions in 1988. Initially 
operated out of her mother's spare bedroom, the agency offers a free 
18-hour course that trains family members and friends of patients 
suffering from acute illnesses in basic home-care nursing skills. The 
course provides instructions on topics such as pain management, 
nutrition, bed care, and physical therapy, as well as educates both 
patient and care giver on how to navigate an often-complex medical care 
system and how to put their legal affairs in order. Since its 
inception, more than 2,000 people have participated in the training.
  Originally targeted to AIDS care givers, Ms. Adams' program has 
expanded in recent years to include training on cancer, congestive 
heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Home Care 
Companions' training techniques have been taught to nurses in Japan and 
more recently to medical professionals in Africa. In 1997, they 
assisted in the development of an Australian AIDS home-care training 
program. Future plans for her agency also include training sessions on 
caring for frail elders and an outreach effort to help other groups 
start training programs in their own communities.
  Borne out of her own personal experience with a dying loved one, Ms. 
Adams created a program that has touched the lives of many in her 
community and beyond. I am thrilled that Celi Adams was selected for 
this well-deserved award from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and I 
urge my colleagues to join me in congratulating her on this wonderful 
achievement.
  Mr. Speaker, as one of her nominators aptly put it, ``She didn't do 
this for fame or glory. She did it for the best reason of all, because 
people in crisis need her help.''

                          ____________________



               GARY GALLUP RECEIVES GRAVER SERVICE AWARD

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. LOIS CAPPS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 12, 2000

  Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to report that my dear friend, 
Gary Gallup, a member of the class of 1961 at the University of 
California, Santa Barbara, was recently honored by the UCSB Alumni 
Association. He is the year 2000 recipient of the Chuck Graver Alumni 
Service Award for his steadfast commitment to his alma mater.
  Gary Gallup was a founder of the UCSB Alumni Association, and served 
on its Board of Directors in its early years. Gary has worked hard to 
improve the stature of the campus which now ranks among the top 
universities in the nation for research and academic quality. It is 
certainly one of the most beautiful campuses, if I may be permitted a 
hometown boast!
  Gary went on to join the UCSB Foundation over twenty years ago, and 
has since been involved in attracting private support that has been so 
important to the growth in size, quality, and stature of the 
university. Most recently, he served as chair of the Foundation, which 
expects to have a record setting year in fundraising.
  His voluntary contributions of time and energy often go unnoticed and 
unrecognized in our complicated world of busy lives. It is therefore 
quite fitting and proper, and I am pleased to join with the UCSB Alumni 
Association, to provide recognition to Gary Gallup for his forty years 
of service and the important contributions he has made to the UCSB 
campus and the community it serves.
  Mr. Speaker, please join me in commending Mr. Gary Gallup on his 
receipt of the Chuck Graver Alumni Service Award and his pledge to 
upholding the vision of the University of California, Santa Barbara. 
The campus and surrounding area is most fortunate to have such an asset 
to call upon.

                          ____________________



 TRIBUTE TO THE 2000 STUDENT ADVISORY BOARD OF THE 14TH CONGRESSIONAL 
                                DISTRICT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. ANNA G. ESHOO

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 12, 2000

  Ms. ESHOO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the Student 
Advisory Board of the 14th Congressional District of California. The 
Board is a group of exceptional high school students who live or attend 
school in my district and have been chosen from a competitive pool of 
applicants for a year-long research project.
  This year the Board chose the issue of gun control as their research 
topic, a very timely topic for the students in light of the national 
tragedies we have witnessed.
  On May 13, 2000, the Board made their final presentation in the Palo 
Alto City Council Chambers. It was well attended by elected officials, 
parents, friends and law enforcement officials. Everyone in attendance 
agreed that the Board's presentation was extraordinarily thoughtful and 
very informative. I was deeply impressed with the exceptional research 
done by the students and their work gives me hope for the future well-
being of our nation.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me today in paying tribute 
to the Student Advisory Board of the 14th Congressional District of 
California thanking them for their superb work and their leadership and 
submit their report for the Record.

                              INTRODUCTION


                       The Student Advisory Board

       We are a group of about twenty-five high school students 
     who want to effect change in our country. We are all very 
     active in our schools and our communities and view the 
     Student Advisory Board as an opportunity to make a difference 
     on a national level. If nothing else, we want to be heard. We 
     are the next generation of leaders (and voters) and we want 
     dramatic, aggressive improvement in areas in which we see 
     fault.


                            Why Gun Control?

       We have researched and debated the hot issue of gun control 
     since October. We chose this topic because of the years' 
     tragic events such as the Columbine shootings and the murder 
     of a six-year-old by a seven-year-old

[[Page 10397]]

     peer. Alarming statistics that guns kill more teens than all 
     natural causes combined hit home for the group. 
     Unfortunately, it takes a tragic event such as Columbine or 
     the assassination of Martin Luther King to make the nation 
     aware enough to affect change. We want to reduce the 32,850 
     yearly gun related deaths in this nation and we believe that 
     an aggressive, nationalized system of effective prevention 
     and enforcement programs will reduce that number 
     significantly.


                              Our Proposal

       The Congresswoman Eshoo Student Advisory Board proposes an 
     aggressive attack on both sides of the gun control issue. We 
     propose a nationalized set of laws, regulated by the Alcohol, 
     Tobacco and Firearm (ATF) preventing the unrestricted sale of 
     guns and effectively enforcing the laws. To prevent gun 
     crime, education about guns and their danger as well as laws 
     restricting the sale of guns must be enacted on a national 
     level to end the disparity between states. First, we propose 
     that a D.A.R.E. type program be used in elementary and high 
     schools to educate children about the dangers of guns. The 
     success of the D.A.R.E. program to effectively reduce drug 
     use in teens assures us that the same success can be achieved 
     for guns. Secondly, we want to make gun laws the same 
     regardless of where a gun is sold. Every state will have to 
     follow the same federal regulations and every gun show dealer 
     will be subject to the same restriction as a licensed gun 
     store. Gunlock laws need to be consistent across the nation. 
     There has already been progress this year: the Smith and 
     Wesson Agreement, in its earliest form, is a landmark 
     decision that is a step in the right direction. However, 
     pressure from other gun companies and the NRA has forced 
     Smith and Wesson to take back some of its' earlier promises. 
     Also, Maryland recently passed a revolutionary new law making 
     built-in locks mandatory by 2002. Thirdly, our plan includes 
     the licensing of every gun dealer as well as owner. The NRA 
     and other anti-gun control groups argue that we should not 
     interfere with the law abiding citizens' right to bear arms 
     (Second Amendment of the Constitution) by increasing the 
     restrictions and making the process longer. We argue simply 
     that a person who is legally allowed to purchase a gun may 
     have to endure a more thorough background check or wait 
     longer to receive their gun, but they are not giving up any 
     freedoms by doing this. A legal gun owner will be allowed to 
     walk away with a gun but they will have prevented a person 
     not fit to own a gun from purchasing one by accepting the 
     regulations as well. It is for the safety of the greater 
     society that we ask legal gun owners to endure the longer 
     process.
       The second part of reducing gun crime in the United States 
     is enforcement of the laws. We have identified and sited 
     solutions to the many loopholes that currently plague the 
     system because of the strong anti-gun control lobby and pro-
     gun congress members. Also noted in the enforcement section 
     are success stories, which show that tough enforcement 
     programs such as Project Exile and The Boston Summer of 
     Opportunity can work to effectively reduce the crime rate 
     nationwide just as they did in their respective cities. We 
     discuss current laws pertaining to guns, some bills that are 
     currently in congress and funding methods. We stress, more 
     than anything else, that tough enforcement of laws, public 
     awareness of the consequences of gun related crimes and 
     proper funding for these programs is essential in reducing 
     the number of gun related deaths in this nation.
       We hope that we will spark an interest in some of you to 
     act on this proposal and we hope that we will provide you, 
     Congresswoman Eshoo, with solid information to use in 
     Congress to affect change on behalf of your student (and soon 
     to be your voting) constituents. If we want to reduce gun-
     related crime, we need action. California Senator Feinstein 
     has taken a step in the right direction. She introduced a 
     bill requiring the licensing of most gun buyers. It would 
     cover buyers of handguns and some semiautomatic weapons and 
     would mandate that records for sales of each be kept. We feel 
     that strong preventative action needs to be enacted along 
     with strict enforcement of laws pertaining to gun control in 
     order to finally reduce gun crime in the United States.
                                 ______
                                 

                               CONCLUSION

       Gun related crime take the lives of 32,500 people every 
     year. That is about ninety people per day and 3,000 of those 
     people are under nineteen years old. The United States' 
     position on gun control presently is to let states make most 
     of the laws governing prevention and enforcement methods. The 
     problems created by not having a national system of gun 
     control account for many of the deaths in this nation. We 
     propose a federally run and funded program that includes 
     prevention methods as well as strict enforcement regulations. 
     This is the only way to keep guns out of unacceptable hands.
       National prevention efforts should include universal gun 
     safety lock laws and funding for more research on ``Smart 
     Gun'' technology. A D.A.R.E. style program focused on guns 
     will be the key to educating children about guns so they can 
     make good decisions later in life. Prevention is essential to 
     reducing gun-related crimes and suicides.
       Effective enforcement is the other aspect in the fight to 
     reduce gun-related deaths in the United States. Without harsh 
     punishments for criminals who use guns any prevention efforts 
     will not be effective. Project Exile, a successful 
     enforcement project in Richmond, Virginia, is a perfect 
     example of a program that we feel should be utilized in high 
     crime areas throughout the nation. Proper funding and 
     identification of worthwhile programs is equally important. 
     We have identified bills that are currently in the House of 
     Representatives to encourage your support, Congresswoman 
     Eshoo, for the types of bills presented. Lastly, we have 
     shown successful programs such as the ``Summer of 
     Opportunity'' in Boston, Massachusetts and important, 
     landmark legislation such as the Brady Bill that are steps in 
     the right direction.
       The Congresswoman Eshoo Student Advisory Board feels that 
     aggressive, nationwide change needs to take place to 
     effectively reduce gun crime in the United States. We would 
     like to mention positive efforts to educate and reduce gun 
     crimes. The Million-Mom March taking place this Sunday, May 
     15 (Mothers Day) embodies many of the aspects of gun control 
     that we support. Senator Feinstein's recent announcement of 
     her bill to make gunlocks mandatory is also a step in the 
     right direction. We hope that this report will provide the 
     information necessary to enact change on the Hill. We hope 
     that Congress and President Clinton can come to agreement on 
     a truly successful program to reduce gun crime, especially in 
     the wake of tragedies such as Columbine and the Michigan 
     shooting of a six-year-old child. There is no better time to 
     enact landmark legislation that embodies both the prevention 
     and enforcement side of this problem.

     

                          ____________________