[Page: S8099]---
Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, I will vote to uphold the President's veto of the wildly irresponsible estate tax repeal bill sent to his desk, and I will also continue to support changes in the law that will provide additional relief for the two percent of American families that are subject to this law.
Under current law, family farms and small business pay no Federal estate tax unless their property is worth more than $1.3 million. Others are eligible for an estate tax exemption of $675,000. I recently voted to raise the small business and family farm exemption to $4 million by 2001 and with a phased in exemption of $8 million by 2010. The general exemption would increase to $2 million by 2001 and $4 million by 2010.
The cost to the Treasury for this additional exemption for America's wealthiest families comes to about $61 billion over ten years. The cost of the total-repeal bill being vetoed by the President, however, comes to $105 billion over the first ten years, and a whopping $750 billion when fully phased in during the next ten years.
Very few South Dakota farms or small businesses have any Federal estate tax liability whatever under current law, but I do want to make sure that exemptions are ample. What I don't want to see, however, is an estate tax repeal bill that is so terribly expensive that it makes it almost impossible for Congress to pass tax relief for middle class taxpayers, to shore up Medicare, to pay down more of the accumulated national debt or improve education.
Keep in mind that most of the budget surplus that is being talked about will not materialize for another five years or so, and prudence would suggest to us that it may never materialize at all. Thank heavens for some adult supervision from the White House at a time when Congress has been behaving like spoiled children under the Christmas tree. Supporters of this irresponsible legislation believe there is room in our budget to give multimillionaires an $8 million tax break, but the legislation sent to the President would have broken the bank and denied relief and assistance to the other 98 percent of American families.
Once Congress concludes its partisan political finger-pointing games, it is my hope that estate tax and marriage penalty relief can be passed in a proper and careful manner that will allow for debt reduction, Medicare improvements, and a commitment to education.
END