Charles Rangel: “I thank the gentleman for this opportunity. Madam Speaker, having served on the Ways and Means Committee for decades, it…”

“I thank the gentleman for this opportunity. Madam Speaker, having served on the Ways and Means Committee for decades, it is a little bit embarrassing to see us debating a bill that goes nowhere. This is a political action that is taken by the majority to select provisions that are in the Tax Code and to have those of us that advocate tax reform to just select those parts that appear to be very popular with some parts of our constituencies. There is nobody in this House that truly believes that this legislation, if passed, ever would become law, but it is something to be used in political campaigns as to what you voted for and why you voted against it. The truth of the matter is that, to listen to the other side talk, we have some very, very rich farmers; and just because they are in a family doesn't mean that they are not wealthy. First of all, let's go to the video, let's go to the facts, and let's find out how many people are going to be affected. And the statistics show that 99.8 percent of the population, those people who die, don't pay any taxes. So what the heck are we talking about? We are talking about a few rich people that are 0.2 percent of those people that will be eligible for a tax, and that is only after we estimate that the value of their estate is $5 million for one person and $10 million for two. So I am not saying that for these people it is not going to be inconvenient.…”