mr. speaker , i thank the gentleman for his leadership and his recognition on this very important legislation that is before us today . 
i am very proud of the work of the gentleman from north dakota ( mr. pomeroy ) xz4003230 , our member of congress , a very distinguished member of the committee on ways and means , for his initiative and leadership in presenting to the congress today an alternative that makes sense to the american people , that is fair to america 's families . 
the gentleman from north dakota ( mr. pomeroy ) xz4003230 speaks with authority on the issues that impact rural america , small business , and america 's families and certainly america 's family farms . 
he has their interests at heart . 
he knows firsthand what their challenges are . 
that is what makes his proposal so wise , and we all appreciate his leadership . 
mr. speaker , in the 20th century , in the early part of the 20th century , our country made a decision to honor our american value of fairness by moving forward toward a progressive system of taxation . 
but under 10 years of republican rule , this congress has consistently passed legislation that has moved away from a progressive tax code . 
republican tax policies have rewarded wealth over work . 
in its analysis of the president 's budget , the nonpartisan congressional budget office found that the tax rate on wage income is nearly twice the rate of capital income , unearned income . 
and now today republicans have come to the floor with an estate tax bill continuing their harmful approach . 
the republican estate tax bill again rewards extreme wealth . 
the republican approach would hurt more people than it helps by increasing taxes and administrative burdens on more than 71 , 000 estates . 
and it comes at a staggering cost of nearly $ 1 trillion over 10 years once it takes full effect . 
democrats want to be fair to all americans , and we support being able to pass a better life on to our children and our grandchildren . 
but we can not support putting the luxuries of the super-rich before the needs of america 's families . 
the difference between the democratic and republican bills is that democrats take a more responsible , indeed , a responsible approach that gives immediate tax relief to small businesses and farmers across the country . 
the pomeroy substitute would provide relief to 99.7 percent of estates in america , 99.7 percent ; and .3 percent of estates would not be covered under the bill . 
that is a small percentage , but a huge amount of money being deprived from the national treasury . 
the savings achieved by pursuing the more fair and targeted approach put forth by the gentleman from north dakota ( mr. pomeroy ) xz4003230 would cover about one half of the long-term shortfall facing social security . 
think of it : if we pass the gentleman from north dakota 's ( mr. pomeroy ) xz4003230 bill , the savings would cover one half of the shortfall in social security down the road . 
it would strengthen social security for generations to come . 
that is the choice we are facing today . 
do we want to put the wealthiest .3 percent of estate holders ahead of millions of american workers who have earned their social security benefits with a lifetime of work ? 
do we want to continue reckless republican tax policies or return to a fair system of taxation ? 
this is a remarkable choice before us , and i hope that the american people can avail themselves of the information to understand what is at stake here . 
basically , it all comes back to our deficit , to our budget , and whether we have fiscal soundness in our budget or not . 
what the republicans are proposing is saying to average working families in america every day they go to work , and every paycheck money is taken from their paycheck for social security . 
what the republicans are doing today is putting their hand into that pot and saying we are taking that money and we are going to subsidize the super-rich in our country , the largest , wealthiest estates in our country , .3 percent . 
mind you , the gentleman from north dakota ( mr. pomeroy ) xz4003230 has covered 99.7 percent , which is most , of course , 99.7 percent of the people in america . 
so anyone listening to this is not , odds are , affected in any positive way by what the republicans are proposing . 
in fact , they will be hurt because of what it does to social security and what it does in terms of capital gains for over 71 , 000 families in america . 
so i think the choice should be clear , to choose to reward work . 
we respect wealth . 
the creation of wealth is important to our economy . 
but that does not mean we take money from working families to give more money to the wealthiest families in america . 
and this at the same time as the tax cuts that the administration has proposed to make permanent , that would give people making over $ 1 million a year over $ 125 , 000 in tax cuts . 
who are we here to represent ? 
this is the reverse robin hood . 
we are taking money from the middle class and we are giving it to the super rich , and not only the super rich but the super , super , super rich . 
so let us come down and vote for america 's workers , let us come down in favor of america 's families , and let us recognize that everybody , the wealthiest as well as those not so wealthy , everyone in america benefits when we have fairness in our tax code , where we have balance in our budget in terms of our values and in terms of our fiscal responsibility . 
i urge our colleagues to support the very responsible pomeroy resolution and vote no on the irresponsible and reckless republican proposal . 
