Joe Pitts: “I rise to request truth in advertising. Is America not the land of opportunity? Is not the sweat of our brow, the work…”

“I rise to request truth in advertising. Is America not the land of opportunity? Is not the sweat of our brow, the work of our hands supposed to be all that is required to succeed in this country? Well, that may be the case until the farm or the family business is ready to be passed to the next generation. A family-owned farm or business stands to lose more than half of everything to the Federal estate tax, which is really a tax on death. Mr. Speaker, 70 percent of families are forced to sell or abandon businesses after one generation because of death taxes. Only 13 percent survive to the third generation. Farmland is disappearing in America by millions of acres. Mr. Speaker, how can we expect the people to work hard and achieve the American dream if we are just going to take it from them in the end? When a business closes, jobs are lost; on an average, 30 jobs for every small business liquidated due to death taxes. Our national productivity suffers. On the other hand, 60 percent of business owners say they would add jobs if the estate tax was repealed, and that is just what we ought to do. Mr. Speaker, let us get rid of this terrible tax on dying.”