By a 274 to 157 vote, the House sustained the veto.
"I support tax reform, but the Republicans have shown no interest in getting a bill passed that the president could sign," said Rep. Farr.
In the past, the federal estate tax has been imposed on transfers of property between a person who dies and his or her heirs.
In explaining his vote, Farr called the Republican version of the repeal bill too extreme.
"If they had sent something reasonable to the president, he would have signed it," said Farr of the Republican-sponsored legislation. "The Republicans wanted to send a campaign message instead of passing a good law. They knew this wouldn't pass."
Rep. Farr voted in favor of the estate tax repeal during the first House vote in June, with the hope that Congress could work out a bipartisan compromise on the bill.
While Republicans favored a total repeal of the tax -- which would benefit mainly a tiny group of the nation's most wealthy property owners -- Democrats wanted a repeal that targeted specific groups of property owners.
The targeted repeal has been of special interest in California, because the high cost of land increases the paper assets of many middle-class farmers and business owners, making them subject to the estate tax, Rep. Farr said. In the worst-case scenario, families must liquidate a business or farm just to pay the so-called "death tax."
Congress has already approved increasing the cap on the exemption for those who pay the tax from $675,000 to $1 million.
"The Democrats have proposed an even higher cap, especially because of soaring land values in California," Rep. Farr said. "As the estate tax affects us in the Salinas Valley, we find 0ag land being turned into subdivisions because farmers can't afford to pass the land on to their heirs."
Rep. Farr and other Democrats met with Treasury Secretary Lawrence H. Summers Thursday morning to discuss their commitment to estate tax reform. Farr lobbied Summers to broker a compromise before the vote. The compromise was not reached Thursday.
Just before the vote, Congressman Farr made an impassioned speech on the House floor appealing for a compromise.
"Nobody on either side of the aisle disputes that we need reform on this issue, but the Republicans just wanted to send a political message on the campaign trail," he said. "Shame on them."
Farr anticipates further action on the issue before the close of the legislative session next month.
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