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Document 45 of 54.

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MAY 13, 1999, THURSDAY

SECTION: IN THE NEWS

LENGTH: 355 words

HEADLINE: PREPARED STATEMENT OF
U.S. REP. FRANK A. LOBIONDO
BEFORE THE HOUSE SMALL BUSINESS COMMITTEE
JOINT RURAL ENTERPRISES SUBCOMMITTEE AND TAX, FINANCE,
AND EXPORTS SUBCOMMITTEE
SUBJECT - HEARING ON H.R. 8, A BILL
TO GRADUALLY REPEAL THE DEATH TAX

BODY:

I want to thank Chairman Manzullo for agreeing to hold this joint hearing on H.R. 8, a bill to gradually repeal the death tax. I also want to thank our witnesses, Congresswoman Jennifer Dunn and Congressman John Tanner, as well as the many small business owners and tax experts for taking the time to testify today.
No one should have to visit Uncle Sam and the undertaker in the same day. Only with our government are you given a certificate at birth, license at marriage and a bill at death. Death taxes penalize families, punish thrift and discourage entrepreneurship.
By confiscating between 37% and 55%, the death or estate tax places an exorbitant burden on families who try pass on their livelihood to their children. The tax has an especially negative effect on family farms and businesses, as I am sure we will hear today from our witnesses.
Many families spend their entire lifetime building their small businesses. These same families often are forced to sell their business to pay the taxes when they try to pass it on to their children. According to the Center for the Study of Taxation, more than 70% of family businesses and farms do not survive through the second generation. Of those that fail, nine out of 10 successors cited debilitating estate taxes as the reason for their business failures.
Because of the many harmful effects of estate taxes, I am proud to be a cosponsor of H.R. 8 which is sponsored by our two Member witnesses, Representatives Dunn and Tanner. We were able to make some progress on this issue in the tax relief bill last Congress, but more needs to be done. There are many economic motivations to eliminate the estate tax. Economists predict that a repeal of the death tax would create hundreds of thousands of new jobs and billions of dollars of available capital.The estate tax clearly does more harm than good. I hope we can make significant progress in this Congress to eliminate this unfair tax and allow family businesses and farms to stay in the family.
I will now yield to the ranking member of the Tax, Finance and Exports Subcommittee, Carolyn McCarthy.
END

LOAD-DATE: May 14, 1999

Document 45 of 54.


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