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

Floor Speech

* Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4154, the Permanent Estate Tax Relief for Families, Farmers, and Small Businesses Act of 2009. This legislation is a necessary step in cleaning up the toxic fiscal legacy of the Bush administration.

* The estate tax is set to expire completely in 2010 unless Congress acts. Under current estate tax parameters, an individual can inherit, tax-free, a trust fund worth $3.5 million--more than a middle class family making $70,000 a year earns in a lifetime. For couples, the exemption is $7 million. H.R. 4154 would permanently extend these generous parameters, ensuring that 99.8 percent of Americans never pay a dime in estate taxes.

* This legislation helps put the Nation back on a path of fiscal sustainability. While it affects only a handful of the wealthiest Americans, the estate tax is an important source of Federal revenue. Eliminating this tax completely would expand the deficit by $662 billion and reduce funding available for schools, roads and other priority investments. The bill also includes a ``pay-as-you-go'' provision that mandates fiscally responsible spending, restoring a 1990s law that turned record deficits into surpluses.

* Without congressional action, the estate tax will return in 2011 at a much higher rate. By permanently extending current levels, H.R. 4154 is a compromise between higher estate taxes in the next decade and a complete elimination of the tax.

* Republican opposition to this compromise legislation is wrong-headed and hypocritical. By supporting nothing but a full repeal, Republicans are pushing for a policy that adds $662 billion to the deficit. This is extraordinarily irresponsible in a time of rising deficits and economic recession. With many middle-class families losing their jobs and their homes, it is difficult to justify a costly new tax cut for the Nation's wealthiest estates so they can pass on even larger inheritances tax-free. H.R. 4154 is a far more reasonable approach.

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