i thank my friend from missouri for yielding me this time . 
mr. speaker , i think a number of important points have been made today , but i rise today in strong support of this bill and in opposition to the estate tax . 
some of the previous speakers on this side of the aisle have made reference to the fact that a number of us on the democratic side have worked over this issue since actually the early nineties . 
i know the gentleman 's predecessor jennifer dunn and i and a number of people from this side of the aisle had worked hard together to look for a commonsense way that we could end this burden which , in my opinion , is an extreme burden on the small business community and on the farm community . 
i do not know about the other speakers , but when i go back to my district and i am mixing and mingling with the folks where they eat breakfast or where they have dinner or where they gather , it is my farm families that bring this issue up . 
in north alabama where i come from , we have some of the most productive farm families of any district in the country . 
for generations , they have struggled and used tax lawyers and tax strategies to try to find a way to effectively pass that farm on to the next generation that we want to continue engaging in that farm business . 
but they are overwhelmed by this issue . 
in 2001 , we did a good step , not a great step but a good step . 
we passed some temporary relief . 
but the reality is that if we do not permanently repeal the death tax , you have almost got to time your death for the benefit of your family . 
that is outrageous . 
so let us make sure that we bury this issue once and for all . 
according to the congressional research service , estates that included farm or business assets represented 42.5 percent of the 30 , 000 plus taxable estate tax returns filed in 2003 . 
it is not fair to say that this is just a rich person 's issue , that the estate tax only affects the wealthy , because , according to that same congressional research service , estates over $ 5 million accounted for only 6.8 percent of taxable estates . 
in this day and time , assets are accumulated in a different way than they were 20 years ago , 25 years ago , 30 years ago or even more than that . 
for the benefit of those farmers , for those small manufacturers , for the local car dealers , the independent car dealers , the realtors , the funeral directors , the grocers , the family restaurant owners , the florists , the convenience store owners and many others , let us end this unfair tax burden . 
i urge the members to support this . 
