Baron P. Hill: “I respect thousands of family farmers in southern Indiana. I have family members who operate family farms. I understand…”

“I respect thousands of family farmers in southern Indiana. I have family members who operate family farms. I understand how the estate tax can cause a lot of hardship for asset-rich and cash-poor family farms. It sometimes can prevent farmers from passing their farms on to their children which is a real tragedy. I support the substitute to this bill, because it sends immediate estate tax relief for the family farmers and small businesses who really need it. The majority proposal requires farmers and small businesses to wait 10 years for estate tax relief. Family farmers and small business operators need estate tax relief now, not 10 years from now. I also support the substitute to H.R. 8, because unlike the Majority proposal, it offers estate tax relief in a fiscally responsible way. When it is fully implemented, H.R. 8 will costs $50 billion a year which threatens our hard-won balanced budget. I believe it is more important to continue paying down the national debt and protecting Social Security and Medicare than giving a tax break to people whose estates are worth tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars. I urge my colleagues to support the substitute.”