mr. speaker , today i rise in support of permanently repealing the death tax .  i would like to thank the gentleman from missouri for his leadership on this issue and his good timing , for in 2 days the tax man cometh .  as i look at these young people in the gallery today , i say to them , this bill is about you .  it is about the youth in this country .  for too long , the federal government has been taxing working americans , not once , not twice , but three times , on their hard-earned money .  when they earn it , the government takes an income tax .  when they spend it , the government takes a sales tax .  and finally , even when they die , the government takes a tax from the grave .  in addition to being bad policy , the death tax is morally wrong .  it confiscates private property and is an unbearable cost to small businesses , ranchers and farmers , which is precisely why the farm bureau supports this bill .  i could tell you many stories about families that were forced to borrow large sums of money or sell off or parcel out their farms or businesses , dividing their families .  i could tell you about the berdolls from austin , texas , in my district who , after paying off a 30-year mortgage , spent 20 more years paying this unfair tax burden .  they literally paid for their farm twice .  the names may change , but the story is the same .  it is time we removed this financial burden from the backs of those pursuing the american dream .  we must guarantee that people do not have to suffer the same hardships as the berdolls .  i urge my colleagues to support this important measure .  