Last week, the U.S. House - with my enthusiastic vote - passed the Death Tax Elimination Act on a strong bipartisan vote of 279-136.

It's high time that we did something to eliminate this unfair tax on the American dream of working and saving and accumulating something worthwhile to pass on to our children and loved ones. The death tax is the LEADING cause of business failures and is grossly unfair because it allows the federal tax man to snatch up to 55 percent of a person's assets when he or she dies.

Some people try to defend this tax by saying that it affects only the wealthiest of the wealthy. But that's not what I hear from folks around the 3rd District. There are a lot of stories about regular people, hard-working small business people and farmers, who are hit by this unfair tax at death. Within about six months the taxman appears, and you have to find the money to pay up.

One friend of mine in the 3rd District is involved in a small business with fewer than 10 employees. He works with his father, but he has discovered that when his father dies, he could be hit with a huge tax bill. He could be forced to sell his business. This is NOT some kind of big operation. This is small business with older buildings that need plenty of maintenance. But this family has built up enough momentum and assets that they could face an enormous and immediate death tax bite.

Many small business people find themselves in the same situation. One third of small businesses will be forced to sell part or all of their operations to pay estate taxes. And half of the businesses that close will eliminate 30 or more jobs, according to Citizens for a Sound Economy.

Given the fact that we are in a time of unprecedented prosperity and budget surpluses created by hard working Americans like my friend's family, why shouldn't we reduce the tax burden? Frankly, all the money earned by small businessmen and farmers like this family has ALREADY been taxed at least once. Why should it be taxed TWICE?  We should return some of the money to the people who pull the wagon in this country. My friend needs this tax relief. He is not wealthy. He needs this tax fairness so if something happens to his father, he is not forced to sell that business.

We must have some generational equity in this country again, so that families can work, invest and hand down the fruits of their labor. That is the American dream. The bill we passed two weeks ago is designed to protect and strengthen that dream.

Our free enterprise system is what people in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union were willing to risk their lives to have. It enables regular folks to save and accumulate enough to lift their families upward. This is not about tax breaks for the wealthy. This is about working people who pay the taxes that pull the wagon. We must give these people a fair shake and get the government off their backs.