Providing for Consideration of H.R. 5638, Permanent Estate Tax Relief Act of 2006

PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 5638, PERMANENT ESTATE TAX RELIEF ACT OF 2006

Ms. McCOLLUM of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 5638, the latest deficit busting tax giveaway from this Republican-controlled House. This enormous Republican tax giveaway completely ignores the real economic needs faced by the 99 percent of American citizens who work hard, pay their taxes and receive zero benefit from this bill. Instead, the priority of this Republican Congress is providing special handouts to estates with assets worth tens and hundreds of millions of dollars--America's economic elite--and then have these tax cuts for the privileged paid for by middle class families.

This legislation should be called the ``Add Debt on America Tax Giveaway Act'' since this bill will have the effect of adding nearly $800 billion to the national debt--10 percent of the total current debt--over the next 10 years. The cost of Republicans cutting and running from common sense and fiscal responsibility is that 99 percent of Americans will be forced to pay for the debt created by this nearly $800 billion tax cut for the super-rich.

Less than 1 month ago this Congress passed a tax bill providing capital gains and dividend tax cuts that primarily benefit families making over $1 million a year. Now Republican leaders are giving away nearly $800 billion in tax cuts for the 7,500 wealthiest families in our country, including an estimated 75 who live in Minnesota. Estates valued at over $20 million account for 43 percent of the value of this legislation and will receive an average tax break of $5.6 million. This so-called virtual elimination of the estate tax is an attack on the middle class and an abandonment of equity or fairness in taxation.

The Bush administration and Republicans in Congress are addicted to tax cuts that bust our Federal budget and add trillions of dollars to the national debt. Since 2001, Republicans have taken a $5.6 trillion Federal budget surplus left by President Clinton and turned it into a $3.2 trillion deficit. Republicans in Congress have raised the debt limit four times--for a total of $3 trillion--and our Nation now faces a national debt approaching $9 trillion. The answer to this fiscal disaster is not cut-and-run tax policies that ignore the needs of 99 percent of American citizens. The response from this Congress should be to enforce fiscal discipline--including a restoration of pay-as-you-go rules to balance the budget. It is time to return the focus of Congress on to the real priorities of middle class American families who are being squeezed at the gas pump, at the grocery store, paying college tuition and paying for skyrocketing health care costs.

During the last 8 years, special interest lobbyists for the 7,500 wealthy estates have been paid $600,000 a year to push the elimination of the estate tax Congress. These lobbyists have spun the myth that the estate tax hurts small businesses and family farms. However, the New York Times searched for a farmer hit by the estate tax but failed to find a single farm lost because of the estate tax--not on single family farm in all of the United States that needed to be protected because this tax giveaway is not about farmers or small business owners, but our Nation's most privileged millionaires and billionaires.

Today, middle class families are being hurt by Republican cut-and-run policies that cater to the super-wealthy who hire lobbyists to get Congress to pass legislation--like H.R. 5638--that will protect their assets tax-free by passing their tax burden on to hard working families. Students struggling to afford college received a $12 billion cut to student aid, families cannot afford health insurance after Republicans have made deep cuts to Medicaid and Medicare, and our senior citizens continue to worry about access to affordable prescription drugs since this Congress passed a law to guarantee profits for pharmaceutical companies and HMOs at taxpayer expense. And all Americans will be affected by the rising interest rates caused by our out-of-control Federal deficit.

Mr. Speaker, this bill is fiscally irresponsible, completely unnecessary and threatens America's fiscal security, as well as our national security. President Bush's fiscal year 2007 budget calls for $247 billion in interest payments on our national debt. This is $247 billion not going to educate our children or keep America secure, but instead is going to wealthy investors and foreign governments that have purchased our Nation's debt. Now, this Republican Congress is adding almost $80 billion more on the national debt, adding to the federal budget deficit and our Nation's fiscal insecurity. This is an irresponsible and dangerous piece of legislation that makes America less secure. I urge my colleagues to reject this latest Republican cut-and-run tax giveaway and focus on the needs of American families.

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