Trent Lott: “I am delighted to take part in introducing the first bipartisan family tax relief bill of the 105th Congress--the Estate…”

“I am delighted to take part in introducing the first bipartisan family tax relief bill of the 105th Congress--the Estate Tax Relief for the American Family Act. Today, the Government can confiscate up to 55 percent of an estate in tax when a person dies. This tax is a grotesque relic of an earlier era when some people believed it was the Government's job to determine who should be allowed to keep what they earn. They believed it was the Federal Government's job to confiscate the hard-earned dollars of working Americans when they died. The estate tax is a monster that must be exterminated. If it were up to me, we would simply repeal the estate tax in its entirety. Unfortunately, our budget process does not allow us to completely repeal this tax all at once. We must do it in stages. Therefore, the bill we are introducing today will increase the amount of every estate that will be exempt from estate tax. When fully phased in, up to $1 million will be automatically excluded from every estate before imposition of the estate tax.”