mr. speaker , i yield myself such time as i may consume .  as the gentleman from north dakota recognizes ; and , again , i do not think he meant to misspeak , but the underlying bill , h.r. 8 , does provide a step up in basis of $ 3 million for the surviving spouse and a $ 1.3 million step up in basis for surviving heirs .  mr. speaker , many have worked on the death tax repeal and going back even to the , i think , family heritage preservation act of 1993 .  the gentleman from california introduced that bill and i think had 29 cosponsors .  now , of course , we are over 200 on permanent repeal .  