mr. speaker , i thank the gentleman for his leadership and his recognition on this very important legislation that is before us today .  i am very proud of the work of the gentleman from north dakota ( mr. pomeroy )  , our member of congress , a very distinguished member of the committee on ways and means , for his initiative and leadership in presenting to the congress today an alternative that makes sense to the american people , that is fair to america 's families .  the gentleman from north dakota ( mr. pomeroy )  speaks with authority on the issues that impact rural america , small business , and america 's families and certainly america 's family farms .  he has their interests at heart .  he knows firsthand what their challenges are .  that is what makes his proposal so wise , and we all appreciate his leadership .  mr. speaker , in the 20th century , in the early part of the 20th century , our country made a decision to honor our american value of fairness by moving forward toward a progressive system of taxation .  but under 10 years of republican rule , this congress has consistently passed legislation that has moved away from a progressive tax code .  republican tax policies have rewarded wealth over work .  in its analysis of the president 's budget , the nonpartisan congressional budget office found that the tax rate on wage income is nearly twice the rate of capital income , unearned income .  and now today republicans have come to the floor with an estate tax bill continuing their harmful approach .  the republican estate tax bill again rewards extreme wealth .  the republican approach would hurt more people than it helps by increasing taxes and administrative burdens on more than 71 , 000 estates .  and it comes at a staggering cost of nearly $ 1 trillion over 10 years once it takes full effect .  democrats want to be fair to all americans , and we support being able to pass a better life on to our children and our grandchildren .  but we can not support putting the luxuries of the super-rich before the needs of america 's families .  the difference between the democratic and republican bills is that democrats take a more responsible , indeed , a responsible approach that gives immediate tax relief to small businesses and farmers across the country .  the pomeroy substitute would provide relief to 99.7 percent of estates in america , 99.7 percent ; and .3 percent of estates would not be covered under the bill .  that is a small percentage , but a huge amount of money being deprived from the national treasury .  the savings achieved by pursuing the more fair and targeted approach put forth by the gentleman from north dakota ( mr. pomeroy )  would cover about one half of the long-term shortfall facing social security .  think of it : if we pass the gentleman from north dakota 's ( mr. pomeroy )  bill , the savings would cover one half of the shortfall in social security down the road .  it would strengthen social security for generations to come .  that is the choice we are facing today .  do we want to put the wealthiest .3 percent of estate holders ahead of millions of american workers who have earned their social security benefits with a lifetime of work ?  do we want to continue reckless republican tax policies or return to a fair system of taxation ?  this is a remarkable choice before us , and i hope that the american people can avail themselves of the information to understand what is at stake here .  basically , it all comes back to our deficit , to our budget , and whether we have fiscal soundness in our budget or not .  what the republicans are proposing is saying to average working families in america every day they go to work , and every paycheck money is taken from their paycheck for social security .  what the republicans are doing today is putting their hand into that pot and saying we are taking that money and we are going to subsidize the super-rich in our country , the largest , wealthiest estates in our country , .3 percent .  mind you , the gentleman from north dakota ( mr. pomeroy )  has covered 99.7 percent , which is most , of course , 99.7 percent of the people in america .  so anyone listening to this is not , odds are , affected in any positive way by what the republicans are proposing .  in fact , they will be hurt because of what it does to social security and what it does in terms of capital gains for over 71 , 000 families in america .  so i think the choice should be clear , to choose to reward work .  we respect wealth .  the creation of wealth is important to our economy .  but that does not mean we take money from working families to give more money to the wealthiest families in america .  and this at the same time as the tax cuts that the administration has proposed to make permanent , that would give people making over $ 1 million a year over $ 125 , 000 in tax cuts .  who are we here to represent ?  this is the reverse robin hood .  we are taking money from the middle class and we are giving it to the super rich , and not only the super rich but the super , super , super rich .  so let us come down and vote for america 's workers , let us come down in favor of america 's families , and let us recognize that everybody , the wealthiest as well as those not so wealthy , everyone in america benefits when we have fairness in our tax code , where we have balance in our budget in terms of our values and in terms of our fiscal responsibility .  i urge our colleagues to support the very responsible pomeroy resolution and vote no on the irresponsible and reckless republican proposal .  