[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 9765]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                      DEATH TAX SHOULD BE REPEALED

  (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, Woody Allen once said that ``death should 
not be viewed as the end, but as a very effective way to cut down 
expenses.''
  Well, unfortunately, this maxim just does not hold true. Currently, 
at the time of death, Americans are assessed an additional tax on the 
value of their property known as the death tax. This added expense is 
why over 70 percent of the family businesses do not survive to the 
second generation.
  Mr. Speaker, it is simply shameful that the Federal Government 
requires an American to pay up to 60 percent of their savings, their 
businesses, or their farm in taxes when they die. Therefore, I 
encourage all of my colleagues to support H.R. 8 which will eliminate 
the unfair death tax over the next 10 years. Americans should not have 
to mourn the loss of a family, a business, or a farm in addition to the 
loss of a loved one.
  It is time to bury the death tax once and for all.

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