mr. speaker , i rise today as a cosponsor of h.r. 8 to express my strong support for this important legislation to permanently repeal the estate or `` death '' tax . 
the estate tax is one of the most unpopular , destructive taxes collected by the federal government . 
it forces many small businesses and farms to dissolve , undermines incentives for work , savings , and investment , and leads to unnecessary development of environmentally sensitive land . 
by permanently repealing the estate tax , we would be eliminating a cruel tax that devalues the hard work and confiscates the savings of some of our most productive citizens . 
as we all know , the estate tax is scheduled to be totally repealed on january 1 , 2010 ; unfortunately , this repeal will sunset on december 31 , 2010 . 
at that point , unless the congress acts , the estate tax will revert to the 2001 level . 
as no one i know can accurately guess which year they might pass on to the hereafter , only one year of complete relief of the estate tax is not only cynical -- it 's bad policy . 
the uncertainty of not knowing whether or not the death tax will really be repealed , makes it difficult for american taxpayers to make plans for their futures , their spouses ' futures , and the futures of their children . 
additionally , the tax increase that would result if congress fails to act would be entirely unfair to many of our constituents . 
on the one hand , i am pleased that the house is once again taking action today to rid our tax code of this punitive measure . 
but we 've done this several times in the past and each time it has gotten bogged down in the other body . 
let 's hope we do n't have to meet again to do what should have been done years ago . 
let 's do the right thing today . 
let 's finally and irrevocably repeal the death tax . 
