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CONTACTS:
JO-ANNE PROKOPOWICZ (202) 637-3093
DOROTHY COLEMAN (202) 637-3077

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WASHINGTON, D.C., August 31, 2000 - The National Association of Manufacturers today expressed deep disappointment with President Clinton’s veto of bipartisan legislation that would eliminate the estate tax, also known as the "death tax."

"Today the president turned his back on family-owned firms and their employees with his decision to veto legislation that would eliminate the death tax," said Dorothy B. Coleman, NAM’s vice president for tax policy. "What this Administration has failed to recognize is when a small company is sold due to the death of its principle owner, the employees and local community often suffer as well. While many family-owned companies develop estate tax planning strategies, these are costly and time-consuming. The NAM and its members will work diligently to override his veto and ensure that this legislation becomes law.

"The phase-out of the burdensome death tax will dramatically reduce the time, money and energy spent by business owners on estate planning, saving many companies that today must be sold for purely tax reasons upon the death of their founders. These hard-working entrepreneurs should not have to contemplate seeing their lives’ work vanish because a huge tax erodes what they have worked to create," concluded Coleman.