Death Tax Repeal Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Madam Speaker, I rise in opposition to this reckless and regressive bill.

My colleagues in the Majority often claim to be opposed to government spending they describe as ``wasteful.'' But this bill is the epitome of wasteful spending. By permanently repealing the estate tax, without any additional revenue whatsoever to cover the losses, it increases our nation's deficit by almost $270 billion.

Make no mistake--tax breaks are spending. Moreover, this bill spends money on those who need it least. According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, only the wealthiest 0.2 percent of estates will benefit at all, and almost three quarters of the benefits will go to estates worth more than $20 million.

For every rich estate that reaps the benefits of this bill, there are ten thousand of our fellow citizens living in poverty. Yet the same House Majority that now supports this bill also passed a budget last month that would cut $125 billion from food stamps and kick up to 20 million Americans off Medicaid--all at a time when working families are struggling to make ends meet. Talk about misplaced priorities.

Madam Speaker, instead of spending hundreds of billions on a tax break for a wealthy elite, we should be directing more assistance to those who are in genuine need. That is why I urge my colleagues to vote against this bill.

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