mr. speaker , we come to the floor today to address an issue of tax fairness .  you see , no matter what kind of spin our friends on the other side of the aisle try to use -- the death tax simply is n't fair .  it 's an unfair burden that the government has placed on families and small business owners .  i 've called it a cancer -- because it 's slowly destroying family farms and businesses across the nation .  many of our small family businesses are wrapped up in a loved one 's estate .  and when family members are left with a huge tax bill , it hits them hard .  i 've heard countless stories from families who have had to sell off a chunk of the family farm just to handle their tax burden .  our friends on the other side of the aisle say that this is too costly and it 's bad for the budget .  i say it 's too costly not to act .  this tax is destroying small businesses .  and we all know they 're the real job creators in our economy .  what kind of nation have we become when a small family farmer ca n't afford to pass the business on to his children ?  look at the facts .  70 percent of family businesses do not survive the second generation , 87 percent do not make it to the third generation .  many of these businesses are going belly-up because of the death tax .  we all realize that the government must have revenues , and that taxes are a necessary evil .  but this tax is n't necessary ; it 's just evil -- because it takes away the american dream from too many american families .  it 's time we give families a real chance at the american dream .  we need to tell the irs to stop lurking around a grieving family 's pockets .  death is not a taxable event .  it 's time we let the death tax die .  