mr. speaker , i thank the gentleman for yielding me time .  mr. speaker , i rise today in strong support of the pomeroy substitute to house resolution 8. and i argue that anyone in this body who is currently concerned about our ballooning national debt should vote in favor of the substitute .  the pomeroy substitute is fair , and it covers those who need tax exemption now , america 's small businessmen and america 's farmers .  it is clear from the debate today that the majority of members in this body believe that our farmers and small businessmen and -women need relief from the estate tax , and i will do all i can to ensure that these hardworking americans get their due tax relief .  in my opinion , the pomeroy substitute does this by increasing the estate tax exemption level in 2006 by $ 3 million for individuals and $ 6 million for couples .  additionally , from 2009 forward , the tax exemption level would be $ 3.5 & lt ; center & gt ; & lt ; pre & gt ; [ page : h1939 ] & lt ; /pre & gt ; & lt ; /center & gt ; i know my friends on the other side of the aisle desperately want to make sure that the paris hiltons of america are fully covered , but they have done pretty good the last 100 years ; and i am sure under the pomeroy bill in the future they will continue to do pretty good .  additionally , the substitute bill eliminates the liability for tax on gains accrued before death .  this is incredibly important to those children who may decide to sell the small farms and businesses they have just inherited .  by using the stepped-up basis to calculate the value on an estate at a time of death , the substitute bill is actually making the tax code simpler and less cumbersome .  it seems to me that this is important to us .  it is important to the president , and it is important to many of us in congress .  i will do all that i need to do in order to support estate tax relief for farmers and small business owners in my district .  but would it not be a great message to send to the senate and to the american people by providing them with the estate tax relief they want and need without breaking the bank ?  it seems to me that it is the fiscally conservative thing to do .  i truly believe we have got to stop this liberal policy of borrowing and spending .  to my friends on the right who believe that any estate tax is so vile that you took your polling advice and decided to start calling it the death tax , you should read leviticus 25 containing god 's message to moses that every 50 years , called the jubilee , all possessions must be returned to the original owners .  i invite you to read that scripture .  you had a chance in 2002 to increase the benefits by giving the tax relief to the estates of all americans .  why did you not ?  it clearly was not to keep the budget balanced .  was it political ?  every year around tax time and every 2 years around election time , you come back with permanent tax repeal .  i think now is the time to do it .  let us get it done .  the pomeroy substitute bill is a bill we need to send to the senate .  it is a fair bill .  it is fiscally responsible .  it should be the house 's bill .  