Permanent Estate Tax Relief For Families, Farmers, And Small Businesses Act Of 2009

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Mr. GRAVES. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 4154. While I appreciate the efforts of my colleague from North Dakota, this bill is not the answer. The bottom line is that death should not be a taxable event.

I find it amazing that the people who are going to get hurt the most by this, the small business men and the farmers, are being referred to as the rich and the moderately rich, which couldn't be farther from the case.

Small businesses and family farmers have felt slighted in Washington over the past 2 years. Congress has bailed out irresponsible players on Wall Street, pushed policies that will increase costs on small businesses and tax them at every turn to pay for the Big Government agenda.

Today we have yet another bill on the floor that ignores the small guy. H.R. 4154 is not indexed for inflation, so small businesses will be forced to pay the death tax in future years. More small businesses will be forced to pay that tax.

Additionally, the bill does not take into account capital-intensive small firms whose expensive equipment will cause them to be subject to this onerous tax. If Congress were serious about helping small businesses in this economic downturn, it would be debating a bill on the floor that repeals the death tax.

I would urge my colleagues to oppose this bill so that Congress can have an opportunity to bring real solutions to the table for our entrepreneurs and our farmers.

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