"Our government already taxes our income when we earn it.  It just doesn’t make sense that when a person dies; the government wants to take a piece of the nest egg that he or she worked and saved a lifetime to build.   

"Right now people who responsibly save, build for retirement, and plan their estates – people like small-business owners and farmers – must also plan for the impact of the taxes their businesses or family members will have to pay should they die.  To make up for this impact, these people pay hefty life insurance premiums every year, when they could be spending that money on their family, their business, or other ways that would stimulate and strengthen our economy.              

"The death tax places an enormous burden on working families who plan and save, but there is little budgetary justification for the tax at all.  Revenue from the death tax makes up about one percent of our government’s total revenue – but the cost associated with implementing the tax cancels it out.  

"While I voted against the recent tax cut, I have always supported extending the child tax credit and eliminating the marriage tax penalty and the death tax; the kind of common sense tax relief that our working families deserve."