[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 9767]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                     PRESERVING THE AMERICAN DREAM

  (Mr. CHABOT asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, imagine an American working and sacrificing 
their entire life, hoping to one day be able to pass the fruits of 
their hard work on to their family. Then imagine that after they die, 
the Federal Government swoops down like an enormous vulture, grabs what 
they have earned and saved as if it is a carcass, and tosses the 
remains to their relatives.
  That, Mr. Speaker, is the death tax. Every year, the death tax 
ravages thousands of family-owned businesses and farms to the tune of 
$46 billion in tax penalties and administrative costs.
  No American family should be forced to pay 60 percent of their 
savings and their business or their farm in taxes when a loved one 
dies. By repealing the death tax, we will help to preserve thousands of 
family-owned farms and small businesses across the country that will 
not have to be sold just to pay this onerous tax.
  Mr. Speaker, we are not just ending a tax; we are attempting to 
preserve the American dream.

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