Mike Enzi: “I rise in support of the Death Tax Elimination Act of 2000. The time has come to stop death from being a taxable event.…”

“I rise in support of the Death Tax Elimination Act of 2000. The time has come to stop death from being a taxable event. The repeal of the Federal death tax is one of the top priorities for tax reform in my home State of Wyoming. The reason is simple--Wyoming is made up almost exclusively of small businesses, and the Federal death tax hits small business owners the hardest of any group in society. Many of the small businesses in Wyoming are in the agricultural sector--ranching and farming businesses that have been built up by families working together to help feed Wyoming and America. These farms and ranches not only provide a great service to our State and the country as a whole by helping provide food that we eat every day, but they are an integral part of the western way of the life. All too often, I have heard the painful stories of families who were forced to sell their ranches or farms just to pay the taxes when their parents pass away. The death tax chips away at our very way of life in the West and elsewhere and should be abolished. The death tax discourages thrift and pierces the very heart of the American economy--small businesses. We should never forget that small businesses are the backbone of the American economy. The simple fact is that most businesses in this country are small businesses. Out of the nearly 5.5 million employers in this country, 99 percent are businesses with fewer than 500 employees.”