[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (2000, Book I)]
[June 9, 2000]
[Page 1113]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Statement on House of Representatives Action on Estate Tax Legislation
June 9, 2000

    The House has jeopardized our fiscal discipline by passing a costly, 
irresponsible, and regressive plan to eliminate the estate tax. If this 
bill were presented to me in its current form, I would veto it without 
hesitation.
    Repealing the estate tax would undermine our record of fiscal 
discipline as well as the progressivity, fairness, and integrity of the 
tax system. The cost of this bill explodes from $100 billion this decade 
to over $750 billion in the following decade, just as the baby boom 
generation is retiring and Medicare and Social Security are coming under 
strain. This bill gives the largest estates a windfall while steering 
only a tiny fraction of the benefits to small businesses and family 
farms. By the end of the decade, the bill would provide a $50 billion 
tax break that would provide only 54,000 estates--about 2 percent of all 
decedents--with an average tax cut of $800,000. Furthermore, studies by 
economists have found that repealing the estate tax would reduce 
charitable donations by $5 billion to $6 billion per year.
    I am supportive of targeted, fiscally responsible legislation, such 
as the Democratic alternative, to make the estate tax fairer, simpler, 
and more efficient. I urge the congressional leadership to work with me 
to relieve the burden of estate taxes for small businesses and family 
farms in a fiscally responsible manner this year. We can do this while 
strengthening Social Security and Medicare, investing in key priorities, 
and paying down the debt by 2013.