WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Saying it’s only a matter of time before the death tax is laid to rest, U.S. Rep. Mac Thornberry (TX-13) voted today for legislation that will repeal the inheritance -- or death -- tax over the next 10 years.
 
 “Day after day,” Thornberry stated, “American workers and small business owners work long hours, trying to save to build up a successful business, or at least a nest egg, to leave to their children.  It’s often called the American Dream.  But the federal government puts some big roadblocks in the way of achieving that dream.  One of the biggest is the death tax.  Americans can be forced to turn over to the government up to 55 percent of their lives’ work.

 “When I was young, the first letter I ever wrote to an elected official was about the death tax.  I overheard my father and grandfather worry about how this tax would affect our ranch.  I didn’t understand why family-run businesses would be punished for generations of hard work.  It seemed wrong and unfair.  It remains unfair today.  More than 70 percent of family-run businesses and farms don’t survive through the second generation, while 87 percent never make it to the third. 

 “The bill approved today will help put an end to this problem by abolishing the death tax over the next 10 years.  While I’d prefer to see it eliminated immediately, the bill points us in the right direction and puts us on track to eliminate the death tax once and for all.”

 The bill is called The Death Tax Elimination Act.  Passed this afternoon in the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 279-136, the bill will phase out death taxes over the next 10 years.  Thornberry is a longtime proponent of death tax repeal, and he is the author of legislation that would abolish death taxes immediately.  He noted that Congress passed legislation providing some relief from the death tax in 1997 and voted to phase it out altogether last year.  However, he added, the President vetoed the legislation last year and continues to be opposed to an outright repeal.

 Still, Thornberry said, he remains optimistic that support for getting rid of the death tax seems to be growing.
 
 “Despite the President’s opposition,” he stated, “I believe it’s only a matter of time before the death tax is laid to rest.  It’s only common sense.  We ought to be encouraging people to work hard, build, save, and try to leave something so their children can have a better life.  The death tax stands in the way of all of these things, which is why it needs to be repealed and why I believe this bill will one day be signed into law.”

 The bill will now be voted on by the Senate.