Byron Dorgan: “let me describe briefly what this amendment does. This is amendment deals with the estate tax. I have listened intensely…”

“let me describe briefly what this amendment does. This is amendment deals with the estate tax. I have listened intensely to the debate on the floor of the Senate. Much of the debate on the estate tax has been about Senators' concerns with family farms and small businesses and with parents not being able to pass on those enterprises to their children to operate. I, too, am concerned about this issue and believe that the estate tax should not interrupt the transfer of a family business to qualified descendants who want to continue to operate the business. We should not do that. A Main Street business in Ames, IA; or Butte, MT; or Regent, ND; ought not suffer the death of an owner and then a crippling estate tax obligation that prevents the owner's children from being able to continue to run that business. We don't want the surviving children of that family business to inherit both the business and a crippling estate tax debt. I understand that problem. And I believe we should do something about it. That's why my legislation would exempt from the estate tax family- owned businesses that are passed on to qualified heirs who continue to operate those businesses. My amendment would do that by the year 2003. If the family enterprise is passed on to the qualified heir or lineal descendent, and it continues to be operated as outlined in my legislation, it will be totally exempt from the estate tax.…”