today i rise in support of the pomeroy substitute to h.r. 8 , the estate tax repeal permanency act , and in opposition to the underlying bill .  as the son of a small business owner , i know firsthand the tax burden placed on entrepreneurs and working families , and i support efforts to responsibly protect small business owners .  the pomeroy substitute provides needed relief by eliminating estate taxes for assets totaling $ 3.5 million per individual or $ 7 million per married couple .  increasing the exemption to this level would mean that 99.7 percent of all estates will not pay a single penny of the estate tax .  small businesses and farm owners should not be penalized for their success , nor should they need to worry about their ability to pass the family business on to future generations , and the substitute addresses these concerns .  h.r. 8 goes far beyond providing fair tax relief to small businesses and family farms .  while the benefits overwhelmingly go to the wealthiest 0.3 percent of estates , republican leaders fail to mention that their proposal actually raises taxes on thousands of estates , including those not previously affected by the estate tax .  this is because their legislation increases capital gain taxes owed on inherited property .  the department of agriculture estimates that this change will raise taxes on more farms than would benefit from repealing the tax .  the republicans ' call for repealing the estate tax comes at a time when our government is already in fiscal crisis .  ending the estate tax will reduce revenues by $ 290 billion over ten years , and by 2021 , this legislation will have added a total of more than $ 1 trillion to our debt .  with a $ 400 billion deficit projected this year , now is not the time to add trillions in debt to the tab that future generations must pay .  these added costs also come as the president proposes to privatize social security at a cost of up to $ 6 trillion .  in addition , the house recently passed a budget that cuts $ 20 billion from medicare and underfunds critical priorities including veterans ' health care and homeland security .  we must work to meet our existing obligations rather than cutting taxes for the wealthiest 0.3 percent of families in america .  based on internal revenue service data for 2004 , out of approximately 10 , 000 deaths in my home state , only 312 rhode island decedents filed estate tax returns .  this number would be much lower with the $ 3.5 million exemption under the pomeroy substitute .  under our democratic alternative , most small business owners and family farmers would receive estate tax relief .  i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting permanent reform of the estate tax , but not irresponsibly repealing it .  our small business owners are in need of relief , and we must provide it without leaving future generations to pay the bill .  