Charles W. Stenholm: “let me first say what I am for and what I will vote for tomorrow, and that is eliminating the death tax on every estate…”

“let me first say what I am for and what I will vote for tomorrow, and that is eliminating the death tax on every estate of $4 million and less. I could be persuaded in the kind of debate that I would hope we would have to repeal the entire death tax if it was done in the context of total tax reform. But in the context of which we will discuss it today and tomorrow and in this rule, I oppose strongly this rule because it prevents the gentleman from California (Mr. Sherman) and I from offering an amendment to ensure that the estate tax repeal does not threaten Social Security and undermine the fiscal discipline that has produced our strong economy. During the debate on the Conservation and Reinvestment Act, I joined with the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Shadegg) to offer an amendment that made the new spending for conservation programs contingent upon certification that we were on a path to eliminate the debt by 2013 and protecting the integrity of the Social Security and Medicare funds. The gentleman from California (Mr. Sherman) and I submitted an amendment applying this principle to phase-in of the estate tax repeal in H.R. 8. Our amendment is a very straightforward proposal which would simply require that this tax cut fit within the context of a fiscally responsible budget and maintain our commitment to eliminating the publicly held debt as quickly as possible.”