Congressman Wayne T. Gilchrest

September 7, 2000

GILCHREST VOTES TO OVERRIDE VETO OF DEATH TAX REPEAL

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest (R-Maryland-1st) voted Thursday to override a Presidential veto of H.R. 8, The Death Tax Elimination Act.

The House voted 274-157, which is just shy of the 2/3rds needed to override the veto. With 431 members voting, 288 votes were needed for an override.

"This is terribly disappointing," Gilchrest said. "This tax unfairly penalizes farmers and small business owners who hope to pass on their land or their businesses to their sons and daughters. We keep losing valuable farmland on the Delmarva Peninsula to development and it's time the tax code quit contributing to that. The fact is that second and third generation farmers are becoming endangered species because they have to sell the family farm to pay the taxes."

Gilchrest played a key role in sending The Death Tax Elimination Act to the President when he was called to Congress during the August recess to officially sign the bill on behalf of the House of Representatives. It was then signed by Senator Strom Thurmond, and then taken to the White House by tractor, to emphasize the importance of the measure to farmers.

The bill would have repealed the estate, inheritance, gift and generation-skipping taxes in 10 years. It would have cut the top 55 percent rate in 2001 and gradually reduces all other rates over the next few years with full repeal coming in 2010.

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