Byron Dorgan: “I believe we ought to enact a generous exemption for family farms and small businesses so that no family farms or small…”

“I believe we ought to enact a generous exemption for family farms and small businesses so that no family farms or small businesses will be caught in the web of an estate tax. It is not as if this is a riveting debate, of course. The estate tax is a complicated issue. It can be highly emotional. As we see in the Senate today, it is not going to keep people glued to their seats. I suggest, however, the purpose of taxation is to pay for things we do in this country together. We build roads together because it doesn't make sense for each of us to build a road separately. We build schools because it makes sense that we do that together. We provide for a common defense. It requires taxes to pay for all this. It is what we do as Americans.”