mr. speaker , i rise today as a cosponsor of h.r. 8 to express my strong support for this important legislation to permanently repeal the estate or `` death '' tax .  the estate tax is one of the most unpopular , destructive taxes collected by the federal government .  it forces many small businesses and farms to dissolve , undermines incentives for work , savings , and investment , and leads to unnecessary development of environmentally sensitive land .  by permanently repealing the estate tax , we would be eliminating a cruel tax that devalues the hard work and confiscates the savings of some of our most productive citizens .  as we all know , the estate tax is scheduled to be totally repealed on january 1 , 2010 ; unfortunately , this repeal will sunset on december 31 , 2010 .  at that point , unless the congress acts , the estate tax will revert to the 2001 level .  as no one i know can accurately guess which year they might pass on to the hereafter , only one year of complete relief of the estate tax is not only cynical -- it 's bad policy .  the uncertainty of not knowing whether or not the death tax will really be repealed , makes it difficult for american taxpayers to make plans for their futures , their spouses ' futures , and the futures of their children .  additionally , the tax increase that would result if congress fails to act would be entirely unfair to many of our constituents .  on the one hand , i am pleased that the house is once again taking action today to rid our tax code of this punitive measure .  but we 've done this several times in the past and each time it has gotten bogged down in the other body .  let 's hope we do n't have to meet again to do what should have been done years ago .  let 's do the right thing today .  let 's finally and irrevocably repeal the death tax .  