Kent Conrad: “this afternoon we begin a very important debate on the question of the estate tax. My friends on the other side…”

“this afternoon we begin a very important debate on the question of the estate tax. My friends on the other side characterize it as a death tax. It is really not. There is no such thing as a death tax in America. Nobody pays taxes at death. There is an estate tax. For estates over a certain amount, they contribute to the revenue of the Federal Government by paying an estate tax. The problem with the current estate tax is that it cuts in at too low a level. Currently, estates begin to be taxed at about $1 million. The fact is, only about 2 percent of all estates pay any tax, even under that circumstance. But with what has happened in the national economy, many of us believe we do need to reform the estate tax--not eliminate it but reform it. Why? First of all, because it is not fair to have the estate tax cut in at that level, given the increase in assets that has occurred in the country in the last decade. At the same time, it does not make much sense to us to eliminate the estate tax completely because of the cost. What our friends on the other side of the aisle are proposing is a $100 billion cost in this decade and a $740 billion cost in the next decade, right at the time the baby boom generation retires--all of this in the context of budget deficits as far as we can see. I believe we ought to reform the estate tax. I believe we ought to increase the level at which it cuts in on individuals and their families.”