Washington, D.C. (June 9, 2000)-The Independent Community Bankers of America applauds the U.S. House of Representatives for passing estate tax relief. For the ICBA, eliminating the punitive death tax is a top tax legislative priority for the 106th Congress. The ICBA has staunchly supported H.R. 8-the Dunn-Tanner relief plan as an ideal way to put to death the onerous estate tax.

John Evans, president of D.L. Evans Bank in Burley, Idaho, and chairman of ICBA's Tax Committee, stated, "The estate tax threatens the continued viability of family-owned community banks, small businesses and family farms and jeopardizes the local economies they support. We're glad the House recognized that estate taxes can lead to the demise of many small family-owned business and has passed much needed relief."

"The American people understand the death tax is fundamentally unjust and the House has done the right thing to phase it out," stated Paul Merski, ICBA's chief economist and director of federal tax policy. "The top 55 percent estate-tax rate forces many families to liquidate their small businesses or farms just to pay the tax collector. This steep tax prevents many Americans from passing their belongings on to their children, often bywiping out a lifetime of hard work."

The ICBA urges the Senate to quickly pass similar estate tax relief legislation and for President Clinton to sign it into law.

ICBA is the primary voice for the nation’s community banks, representing 5,500 institutions at nearly 16,700 locations nationwide. Community banks are independently owned and operated and are characterized by attention to customer service, lower fees and small business, agricultural and consumer lending. ICBA's members hold more than $491 billion in insured deposits, $589 billion in assets and more than $344 billion in loans for consumers, small businesses and farms. They employ nearly 232,000 citizens in the communities they serve. For more information, visit www.icba.org.

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