Neal Dunn: “I might just mention that the gentleman who has just completed his speech has just experienced in his own State of…”

“I might just mention that the gentleman who has just completed his speech has just experienced in his own State of Maryland the repeal of the death tax led by a Democrat legislature, a Democrat government, and led in particular by Obie Patterson, a liberal Democrat himself. Mr. Speaker, as much as it excites me to listen to the opposition talk about reducing the death tax, the substitute is a hollow attempt to make it look like we are providing relief. It does not do the trick here. Here are the four reasons why: First, and perhaps most importantly, it does not repeal the death tax. The substitute maintains the fundamental unfairness of the death tax. It says that, at the end of one's life, after one has worked hard, one puts one's heart and soul into building a business or a farm to provide a legacy for one's family, the Government still is entitled, in, many cases, to more than half of the fruits of one's labor. I cannot accept this because it is so grossly in violation of the fundamental virtues of this Nation: thrift, diligence, risk taking, hard work. Ninety-five percent of Americans believe it is wrong. Ninety-five percent of Americans, Mr. Speaker, believe that it is wrong to tax income during one's life and then tax the same assets again just because one dies. Secondly, the current death tax rates are the second highest in the industrialized world. The only nation that is higher than us in death tax is Japan at 70 percent.”