House Democratic Whip Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) issued the following statement on the House floor this afternoon opposing H.R. 2143, the Permanent Estate Tax Repeal Act, and supporting a substitute offered by Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-N.D.).
"Mr. Speaker, our young men and women abroad are defending our nation against further terrorist attack, yet the Republican Leadership is undermining our security at home by passing yet another irresponsible tax bill.
Make no mistake: this bill undermines our nation’s security. It will rob us of the resources we need to defend our country, and it will rob us of the money we need to protect Social Security.
Their bill doesn’t even repeal the estate tax until 2011, and it will actually increase capital gains taxes on the very estates they claim to help.
Their bill costs more than $1 trillion. And it will raid the Social Security and Medicare trust funds at the exact moment the Baby Boomers begin to retire.
In contrast, our Democratic estate tax bill offers real reform. And it brings
much greater and more immediate relief to family farmers and small businesses
than theirs.
Beginning January 1, 2003, the exemption from the estate tax would jump to $6
million per couple. And those estates won’t get hit with higher capital
gains taxes, as they do under the Republican bill.
It’s really quite simple. If your estate is less than $6 million, you definitely want the Democratic bill. Under our bill, you don’t have to wait until 2011 to get relief. Under our bill, 99.7 percent of those who die would be totally exempt from the estate tax.
And those who are left aren’t family farmers, and they aren’t small business owners.
No, they are the wealthiest of the wealthy. They are Ken Lay and other Enron executives who have run their companies in the ground. That’s who the Republican bill helps.
Let’s prevent another Republican raid on Social Security. Let’s stop mortgaging our children’s future. Let’s give real estate tax relief to the people who need it.
I urge my colleagues to support the Democratic substitute and to provide much
greater estate tax relief. It is real relief that is fiscally responsible and
sustainable, and relief that helps family farmers and small business owners."