U.S. House Will Attempt Override Of Death Tax Veto
The U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled Thursday to attempt an override of the President’s veto of a major small business priority – death tax repeal. The Death Tax repeal has been at the forefront of small business tax reform and is one of the main reasons that 70% of all family owned businesses do not make it to the second generation.

The U.S. House passed the Death Tax repeal with more than the two-thirds vote required for a veto override (279-136). However, 20 members of the U.S. House did not vote. These votes will be very important in determining the success of the override attempt in the House. In order to perfect an override, we need to maintain all of the favorable votes and secure support from 12 of the 20 members who refrained from voting last time.

Call your Congressman immediately and ask for his or her support on overriding the veto of the repeal of the Death Tax. If your Congressman voted for repeal during the last vote in June, express your thanks and ask for continued support on this issue.

You can also check the votes through the Congressional Record.

This is your opportunity to speak out and make your voice heard on issues affecting your small business. The event will be moderated by Hank Gilman, Managing editor of FSB.

Other panelists include:

• Jim McCann from 1-800 Flowers
• Deborah Sawyer from Environmental Design International Inc.
• Terry Neese from GrassRoots Impact, Inc.

This expert panel will be taking questions from our live studio audience, plus answering your questions submitted over the Internet. There will be an interactive board open during the event so you can talk to other small business owners. And after the event, Hank Gillman, Managing Editor of Fortune Small Business, will be taking questions from the Web in a post-event chat.

To join in live, americanexpress.com. Click on small business, then on Voices from Main Street-- and you'll be able to take part in the discussion.

Subcommittee Hearing Thursday On Small Business Tax Code Complexity
On Thursday, September 7, 2000 at 10:00 AM in Room 2360 of the Rayburn House Office Building, the Subcommittee on Tax, Finance, and Exports of the House Small Business Committee will hold a hearing on the subject of the complexity of the tax code as it impacts small business. The purpose of this hearing is to determine if small businesses have particularly high tax compliance costs and discuss what can be done to alleviate this burden.

Subcommittee Chairman Don Manzullo will convene the hearing, which will include witnesses from the IRS, the Tax Foundation, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the American Bar Association. The hearing will be broadcast live over the Internet.