mr. speaker , i want to express my strong support for h.r. 8 , the death tax repeal permanency act of 2005 . 
i have supported this measure in the past and have introduced similar legislation to make the death tax repeal permanent . 
i believe it is important that we accomplish the goal of passing this in the house and the senate and seeing this bill enacted into law . 
the death tax needs to die . 
along with the marriage penalty , the death tax is perhaps the most disgraceful tax levied by the federal government and it should be repealed immediately . 
the death tax is double taxation . 
small business owners and family farmers pay taxes throughout their lifetime , then at the time of death they are assessed another tax on the value of the property on which they have already paid taxes . 
this is unfair , unjust and an inefficient burden on our economy . 
i have spoken in the past about a constituent of mine , danny sexton of kissimmee , fl and owner of kissimmee florist . 
he , like millions of other americans , has experienced the sad realities of the death tax . 
he joined me several years ago in washington to highlight the adverse impact the death tax had on his family business . 
mr. sexton , who comes from a family of florists , inherited his uncle 's flower shop and was faced with paying almost $ 160 , 000 in estate taxes . 
this forced him to have to liquidate all of the assets , layoff workers and take out a loan just to pay the death tax . 
he also had to establish a line of credit just to keep the operation running . 
danny sexton is the reason we need to appeal the death tax . 
the death tax is n't a tax on just the rich , it is a tax that hurts family owned businesses -- family owned businesses that are the backbone of this great nation . 
it also caused several average workers to lose their jobs . 
family owned businesses provide and create millions of jobs for american workers . 
the people who worked in mr. sexton 's florist were not rich , but they lost their jobs because of the death tax . 
in a recent survey conducted by the national federation of independent businesses , 89 percent of small business owners favored permanent repeal of the death tax . 
why ? 
because these small business owners know this tax may mean the death of their business for future generations . 
according to the center for the study of taxation , more than 70 percent of family businesses do not survive the second generation and 87 percent do not make it to the third generation . 
family owned and operated businesses deserve the right to be inherited by the next generation without the blow of the death tax . 
in current law , the death tax is phased-out , completely repealed in 2010 . 
but that is not good enough because in 2011 , the tax reemerges in full force . 
that means taxpayers must plan for three different scenarios when passing along their family business -- pre- 2010 when the exemption levels are gradually increasing and the top rate gradually decreasing ; 2010 when the tax is completely repealed ; or 2011 when the tax reemerges . 
this is complicated , confusing and hard to plan for -- unless a small business owner knows for certain when his or her death will occur . 
when we make this tax repeal permanent , taxpayers will have the ability to make long-term financial plans with certainty and will have the opportunity to pass on their hard earned family businesses and farms to future generations . 
it will also ensure that those who work for these small businesses are able to keep their jobs . 
i urge my colleagues to vote for h.r. 8 , the death tax repeal permanency act of 2005 . 
