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PRESS RELEASE FROM AMERICANS FOR TAX REFORM
Contact: John Kartch ( jkartch@atr.org or 202-785-0266)

09/19/02

Death Tax? House Decries Senate's Inattention to Nation's Economic Needs
U.S. House reaffirms its support for tax reform and economic vitality; calls on Sen. Daschle to bring the Death Tax repeal out of the "Senate Graveyard"

WASHINGTON - Today the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed H. Res. 524, a resolution urging the Senate to complete action on a permanent repeal of the Death Tax. The House passed a permanent repeal of the tax by a vote of 256 to 171 back on June 6, but Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) refuses to let the bill come up for a vote in the Senate.

Death Tax repeal has strong support in the Senate, with a clear majority of Senators either having voted for it in the past, or having committed to vote for it. But Daschle won't even allow a vote to take place.

"It's time to end the punitive taxation of those who have died," said taxpayer advocate Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform. "In the name of class warfare, this tax destroys small businesses, forces the sale of family farms, and deprives the economy of long term investment. Yet Tom Daschle would seem to prefer to keep the tax as a symbol of class warfare, than to end this burden on American families."

As part of President Bush's historic tax cuts last year, the Death Tax was phased out over several years. However, due to obscure Senate rules, the tax is scheduled to reappear suddenly, with all its destructive weight, in 2011. To prevent that reappearance, Congress must pass a second law to make the repeal permanent.

Unfortunately, the Death Tax repeal is only one of many bills wasting away in the Senate's graveyard. To date, at least 50 items have been denied a single vote by the full Senate, including the Welfare Reform bill, several judicial nominations, and even this year's budget for the war on terror.

"The Senate has become the graveyard for almost every proposal to come out of the House or the Bush Administration," Norquist continued. "As the economy stumbles, Tom Daschle won't let the Senate vote on America's agenda. Why is he playing politics with our prosperity?"

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Americans for Tax Reform is a non-partisan coalition of taxpayers and taxpayer groups who oppose any and all federal and state tax increases.  For more information, or to arrange an interview with Mr. Norquist please contact John Kartch at (202)785-0266 or by email at jkartch@atr.org.