Filibuster (Cong. Rec., March 16, 2021)

Summary

Congressional Record, Senate, pages S1534 and S1535, March 16, 2021. Under the heading Death Tax, Thune says a bill introduced last week would permanently repeal the death tax, and says the increased exemption from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act expires at the end of 2025. Under the heading Filibuster, Durbin says McConnell found a quote in which Durbin spoke in favor of the filibuster to protect minority rights, and says the impression of the filibuster changed because of McConnell. Later remarks say all adults in America over the age of 18 will be eligible for vaccinations on May 1 of this year.

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“Filibuster (Cong. Rec., March 16, 2021).” Original at www.govinfo.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/crec-crec-2021-03-16-crec-2021-03-16-pt1-pgs1534-2-7470e22769/, SHA-256 5ce9abddbcb9db06798bfac50613cf3e0e671e51827210790a734603562f6e7c.

Full text

S1534 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE March 16, 2021
DEATH TAX tax bill from the Federal Government. dirty word, and families and employees
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, last week And so the only thing left for his chil- should not be punished because a fam-
I introduced a bill to permanently re- dren to do will be to start selling off ily has worked hard and built up a suc-
peal the death tax. farm equipment and land. In some cessful farm or ranch or business.
I have been pushing to repeal the cases, they will be able to keep the On top of all this, the death tax is an
death tax for a long time because I farm, just a smaller version of it. In inefficient tax that raises a small
have seen the consequences the tax can others, they may have to sell off the amount of revenue while placing a very
have for family farms and ranches and family farm entirely. The same thing large burden on farmers and ranchers
for family businesses. And I am proud can happen with family-owned busi- and small business men and women.
that we protected a lot of family farms nesses. Repealing the death tax is an idea
and businesses 3 years ago with the Tax In the case of a larger family-owned that has won bipartisan support in the
Cuts and Jobs Act by doubling the business, the business owner may be past, including support from more than
death tax exemption, but the death tax worth $15 or $20 million, but only a one sitting Democratic Senator. I hope
is still a big problem. small fraction of that may be money in it will win bipartisan support in this
First of all, the change we made to the bank. The vast majority may be Congress as well. And I will continue to
the death tax in the Tax Cuts and Jobs tied up in the business. In that case, fight to ensure that no family farm or
Act isn’t permanent. The increased ex- when the Federal Government comes business has to worry about this pun-
emption level expires at the end of 2025. around demanding 40 percent of the ishing tax.
Second, Democrats, who are always taxable estate, all the money that that I said it before, and I will say it
eager to seize any possible revenue business owner had in the bank won’t again: One family farm or business lost
source, have proposed not merely re- even come close to covering the tax is one too many.
turning the exemption to its previous bill. I yield the floor.
level but reducing it even further. And To pay the Federal Government, the I suggest the absence of a quorum.
that would be a big problem for a lot of owner’s descendants will have to sell The PRESIDING OFFICER. The
family farms and businesses. off part or all of the family business. clerk will call the roll.
The death tax is a fundamentally And this can happen again and again. The senior assistant legislative clerk
flawed idea, both in theory and in prac- Think about a business that was proceeded to call the roll.
tice. Every American, of course, has an started half a century ago and passed Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask
obligation to pay taxes to help support down from father to daughter, to unanimous consent that the order for
our government, but there should be a grandson. With every death, the Fed- the quorum call be rescinded.
limit to how many times the govern- eral Government will have come de- The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr.
ment can tax you. And death should manding a big chunk of that estate. By PADILLA). Without objection, it is so
not be a taxable event. the time you get to the third genera- ordered.
The money you leave at your death tion, the business may be struggling to Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask to
has already been taxed by the govern- stay afloat if it is still around at all. speak as if in morning business.
ment at least once, which makes the I recently read testimony from a The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
death tax double taxation. business owner who stated that, with- objection, it is so ordered.
People who support the death tax out death tax reform, the family com- FILIBUSTER
tend to talk as if the death tax only af- pany will end with him. Why? Because Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, it is
fects the fabulously wealthy, but that the company will have to be sold to flattering when the Republican Senate
isn’t the case. Small- and medium- meet the tax bill the Federal Govern- leader comes to the floor and mentions
sized businesses, family farms, and ment will hand his descendants. The your name, and Senator MCCONNELL
ranches spend a lot of time and money company has already faced the death did just that this morning.
on estate planning to avoid being hit tax multiple times in its history and The issue was the filibuster. Senator
by this tax. Farmers and ranchers in given millions upon millions to the MCCONNELL found a quote several years
my State know, without careful and Federal Government. This next death ago where I spoke in favor of the fili-
costly planning, the Federal Govern- tax bill will be the death blow. buster to protect minority rights in
ment can come around after their I am proud that Republicans im- the Senate. It is true. I did say that. It
death demanding a staggering 40 per- proved the death tax situation for a lot was based on life experience. Having al-
cent of their taxable estate, and their of family farms and businesses by pass- ready served in the Senate for a num-
children won’t have the money to pay ing estate tax reform in the Tax Cuts ber of years, I came to understand how
without risking the farm or the ranch. and Jobs Act, but doubling the exemp- it evolved as one of the procedures in
Why? Well, farming and ranching is tion is not enough. There are still fam- the Senate.
often a cash-poor business. ily farms and businesses out there that But I have to say to you that my im-
A farmer might, technically, be aren’t protected from this tax. And in pression of the filibuster changed, and
worth several million dollars, but the my view, losing even one family farm the reason it changed was none other
vast majority of that is land and farm- or ranch or business to the death tax is than the Republican Senate majority
ing equipment. Only a small fraction of one too many, not to mention the fact leader, now minority leader, Senator
it is money in the bank. that in less than 5 years, the expanded MCCONNELL. You see, the filibuster
The Farm Bureau reports that over exemption will expire putting many really was created in the Senate
the past 10 years, the value of farmland farms and businesses back in the tax’s through its own rules, as I explained
has increased by nearly 50 percent. It is crosshairs. yesterday, and it came to define the
completely possible that a farmer’s Family farms and businesses play a Senate in this respect. The Founding
land might have substantially in- vital role in the economy and in com- Fathers looked to the Senate to pro-
creased in value over the past decade, munities. Family farms and ranches vide two representatives—literally,
while his income has barely increased are the lifeblood literally of rural com- Senators—from each State, regardless
at all or, with commodity prices the munities in South Dakota. They are a of population, so smaller States, back
past few years, they may have been los- source of jobs. They provide support for in the original Colonies, like Delaware,
ing money. In fact, it is perfectly pos- local businesses. They help build up would have the same number of Sen-
sible that in a bad year, a farm with local schools and local infrastructure. ators as a large State, like Virginia.
several million dollars’ worth of land Losing a local farm can hit rural com- That was their intention.
might barely break even income-wise. munities very hard. So the protection of minority rights

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So what happens when a farmer dies? It is mind-boggling that the Federal was kind of built into the definition of
Well, the Federal Government will Government imposes a tax that pun- the U.S. Senate, and the filibuster be-
claim up to 40 percent of his taxable es- ishes all the things we should be en- came its manifestation in the daily
tate. But his liquid assets—in other couraging. The death tax punishes hard procedure of the Senate. Under that fil-
words, the cash he has available—will work. It punishes success. It punishes ibuster, of course, one Senator could
likely not come close to covering the innovation. ‘‘Success’’ should not be a stop the debate, or at least slow it

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March 16, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S1535
down, by insisting on a filibuster, only us to hang on to the traditions of the for dramatically scaling up vaccina-
to be stopped by an extraordinary ma- Senate, I would tell you that their in- tions in America. The administration
jority of the Senate voting to return to terpretation of the traditions is stran- helped to strike a historic partnership
the regular business. gling this body. They have beaten the between rival drugmakers, ramped up
That was the case in 1957 because, in old filibuster to the point where it is manufacture of the vaccine, and im-
August of 1957, Senator Strom Thur- hardly recognizable and is now the reg- proved coordination with State offi-
mond took to the floor of this U.S. ular order of business in the U.S. Sen- cials everywhere.
Senate and initiated the longest fili- ate. We are seeing a world of difference
buster in its history. For 24 hours and That is why many of us, frustrated that this makes. When you put com-
18 minutes, the man stood by his desk with having worked so hard to come petent, qualified leadership in charge
and spoke without stopping. He didn’t here, wanting to do the best we can to in the White House and in State cap-
have any permission to leave the floor represent the people who have sent us itols, good things happen. Our weekly
for any reason and certainly couldn’t here, are so frustrated by the current vaccine shipments in Illinois have
sit down without losing his filibuster. state of procedure. And for Senator nearly doubled. The Federal Govern-
He did it. He did it for the wrong rea- MCCONNELL and other Republicans to ment has erected a mass vaccination
son, I am afraid, because he was trying come to the floor and plead for hanging site at the United Center in Chicago. It
to stop the march of civil rights in this on to this tradition is actually plead- has also supported partnerships with
country, but he did it. Determinedly, ing for the Senate to continue to do community health centers and retail
he achieved that goal. less and less each year. pharmacies to expand access to vac-
When he did, in 1957, that was the There are those of us now in control cines. A cautious hopefulness is wash-
broken fifth filibuster in the history of on the majority side—the bare major- ing over America, but we can’t lose
the Senate in the previous five decades. ity side—on the Democratic side, who momentum in our fight against COVID.
In other words, if you went back to 1919 really believe there is much more to be To put this pandemic really behind
and all the way to 1957, Strom Thur- done in the Senate. The American peo- us and to bury it in history, we need to
mond’s was the fifth time in history a ple expect us to respond. lend a hand to the many poor nations
filibuster was broken. Once every dec- Now, you might ask: Well, how did that have yet to receive a single dose
ade, a filibuster was broken on the Sen- you pass the American Rescue Plan if of vaccine. The inequities are stark.
ate floor. there is a filibuster used so frequently? Ten countries have accounted for 75
Well, that world has changed—dra- It was under a process called reconcili- percent of the total vaccinations ad-
matically changed. We can now have ation, which depends on a majority ministered worldwide, while approxi-
five filibusters in a couple of weeks. We vote. You can’t filibuster under the mately 100 countries have yet to ad-
now have, on average, 80 filibusters a reconciliation. That is why this amaz- minister any vaccine doses. This dan-
year because of the urging and direc- ing bill, this new law, the American gerous shortfall has the potential to
tion of the Senator from Kentucky, Rescue Plan by President Biden, is so undermine the good work that is hap-
Senator MCCONNELL. He has institu- sweeping in its reach. We had to try to pening here in America. Closing this
tionalized the filibuster to the point combine, under this law, so many pro- gap is not only the right and moral
where it is now the normal course of visions that had been affected by the thing to do, it is the safest and smart-
business, not an extraordinary proce-
pandemic and the state of the economy est thing to do to stop the threat
dure.
because we knew that returning to the COVID, and its increasingly contagious
I recounted the fact that I introduced
the DREAM Act 20 years ago—20 years regular order of business with the fili- variants, pose to us all.
ago. DURBIN, what kind of a Senator buster looming every single day would Remember back a little over a year
are you that in 20 years you can’t pass tie our hands just as sure as we have ago, an obscure city in China generated
the DREAM Act? Well, I brought it to seen in the past several years. a virus—we think they did—that ended
So, Senator MCCONNELL, thank you up circling the world many times over
the Senate floor on five different occa-
for mentioning my name, but if I be- and changing life on this planet.
sions, and on five different occasions it
came skeptical of the filibuster, it is Last month, I received a briefing
was stopped by the filibuster. Other
Members can tell the story of their leg- because of your use of it. I hope that from Dr. Fauci on the new genetic
islative experience on the floor too. you understand that you can’t have it mutations of COVID–19. He shared
The point I am getting to is this: It both ways. It can’t be a rare procedure troubling news about variants that are
wasn’t until Senator MCCONNELL and and be a procedure that dominates the emerging in the United Kingdom,
the Republicans who follow him de- actual business of the Senate as this South Africa, and Brazil. Some of them
cided to make the filibuster just daily has done for so many years. may have more resistance to our cur-
business in the Senate that it was CORONAVIRUS rent vaccines than we care to see. He
abused to the point where the Senate Mr. President, last year I came to the warned that if we fail to stamp out the
stopped doing regular legislative busi- floor on multiple occasions to ask con- virus globally, then we will continue to
ness. sent for a simple, sensible resolution. see risks within our own borders.
I would like Senator MCCONNELL to It called for the United States to co- Variants of the virus could counteract
come to the floor the next opportunity operate in global efforts to address the the tremendous progress we have made
he has and explain this to me. In the COVID pandemic. At that time, that and the progress that we are poised to
last calendar year, 2020, the Senate point was obvious, and it is even more make in the near future.
considered 29 amendments on the floor obvious today. As I said at the outset, viruses don’t
of the Senate in the entire year. Now, Pandemics don’t respect borders. recognize borders. Crushing the virus
that doesn’t count a vote-arama, which None of us is safe from highly infec- in other countries is a strategic invest-
is an aberration that I don’t think tious diseases until all of us are safe. ment in our own national safety and
would ever be accused of being delib- That is especially important to keep in security. President Biden understands
erative. But 29 regular-order amend- mind as we begin to turn a corner here this. He is serious about addressing the
ments during the course of a year—em- in America. virus first in America and then around
barrassing, isn’t it? When you think of Last week, during his first address to the world. He has set us on a pace to
this great so-called debating society, 29 the Nation, President Biden announced vaccinate all eligible Americans over
times we brought an amendment to the that all adults in America over the age the course of the next several months.
floor? Well, it was an improvement—an of 18 will be eligible for vaccinations on Let me urge those who are hesitant
improvement over the previous year, a May 1 of this year. If all goes to plan, or skeptical as to whether it is the

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30-percent improvement, in fact—be- we can look forward, as President right thing to do, do it, please—for
cause in the year 2019, under Senator Biden mentioned, to a Fourth of July yourself, for those you love, and for
MCCONNELL’s leadership, we had 22 with family and close friends at a close this Nation.
amendments. distance. President Biden wisely halted Presi-
So when Senator MCCONNELL and Considering what they inherited, the dent Trump’s withdrawal from the
others come to the floor and plead for Biden administration deserves credit World Health Organization. He joined

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