[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 17949]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                               ESTATE TAX

  (Ms. JENKINS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. JENKINS. Growing up on a Kansas dairy farm, I know the estate tax 
is a threat to family farms. This tax makes bailing hay and shoveling 
manure sound like a get-rich-quick scheme, when most family farms make 
an average of $45,000 a year. Raising the estate tax to 55 percent and 
dropping the exemption to $1 million might be feasible for a hedge fund 
manager, but it will jeopardize the future of farmers and their 
families, forcing many to sell their farms they worked to build for 
generations.
  Many farmers are ``land rich'' but ``cash poor.'' The average land 
value for 65,000 Kansas farms is $900,000. Throw in a $300,000 combine, 
a $250,000 tractor, and Kansas farmers are suddenly millionaires 
according to estate tax math. But this isn't wealth they can use to pay 
taxes. It's in assets.
  Farmers provide us with a safe and dependable food supply. We cannot 
allow the estate tax to put them out of business.

                          ____________________