Dunn's Statement on Veto of Death Tax Repeal

August 31, 2000
(Washington, D.C.)

Today U.S. Congresswoman Jennifer Dunn (8th Dist.--Wash.) released the following statement in anticipation of the veto of the Death Tax Elimination Act, H.R. 8. Dunn authored the bill with U.S. Congressman John Tanner (D-TN); the Act repeals the death tax through rate reduction over ten years.

"I am deeply disappointed that President Clinton and Vice President Gore chose to block this bipartisan effort. In fact, 65 House Democrats and nine Senate Democrats voted that death alone should not trigger a tax. While Clinton and Gore may support the government confiscation of more than half of a person's life work, 80% of Americans find this unfair.

"This is not a Democrat or Republican issue; this is a fairness issue. It is time for President Clinton and Vice President Gore to stop saying ‘no' to restoring fairness to the tax code. Working men and women across the country recognize that it is simply wrong that after paying taxes your whole life, the government can collect up to 55 percent of these same assets when the head of the family dies. In fact, the White House Conference on Small Business made death tax repeal one of their top three recommendations to President Clinton. It's a shame the Administration couldn't put progress ahead of partisanship and bury the death tax once and for all.

"President Clinton alleges that he wants targeted death tax relief. However, estate tax attorneys and small-business owners testified before Congress that family-owned businesses simply would not benefit from the Administration's overly-complex ‘targeted' relief. Most experts agree that the family-owned business exemption, which Congress created in 1997 and Clinton/Gore now seek to expand, hasn't worked. In fact, the Administration's proposal would ‘target' only 3% of family-held businesses and farms. Once again, the Administration seeks to provide targeted tax cuts by targeting families out of relief.

"Next week, the House will vote to override the veto. I will lead the charge to ensure that death tax repeal legislation is enacted into law - whether it is by a veto-override vote or signed into law by our next President, George W. Bush."

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