NAN A. S. HAYWORTH: “This motion to recommit says to the American people, Mr. Speaker, ``Wait, wait for tax relief. We believe it is…”

“This motion to recommit says to the American people, Mr. Speaker, ``Wait, wait for tax relief. We believe it is important, perhaps not as important as a bipartisan majority of this House. We believe it is important, but you need to wait a while longer.'' This legislation also, or this motion to recommit, offers tax relief with one hand and takes it away with the other. Mr. Speaker, the American people have spoken loudly and clearly about the unfairness of the death tax. A recent issue of USA Today describes it thusly, quoting now: ``Taxes aren't popular to begin with. But of all the ways Uncle Sam takes a cut, none may be detested more than the tax levied on an estate after someone dies. ``The idea of the government reaching into the grave and grabbing 37 to 60 percent of the wealth accumulated during a lifetime is, well, ghoulish to many. It's the depressing confluence of the only two things in this world that Benjamin Franklin noted were `certain.' ''”