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For Immediate Release
Office of Media Affairs
June 7, 2002

President Commemorates One-Year Anniversary of Tax Relief

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Excerpt from June 7, 2002 Speech in Iowa

"The best way to make sure we've got a strong farm economy and to make sure our economy recovers from the recession is to let people keep their own money. (Applause.) I believe that when you let a person keep his own -- his or her own money, they're going to spend it. And when they spend it, it increases demands for goods and services. And with an increase of demand for goods and services, somebody has got to produce that good and service. And when they produce it, it means somebody's going to find work. (Applause.)

"It was one year ago today I had the honor of signing the tax relief bill that Chairman Chuck Grassley -- then Chairman Grassley -- shepherded, helped shepherd through the United States Senate. It was the right public policy at the right time for the United States of America. (Applause.) And today I'm told that there are some statistics coming out that shows that the unemployment rate in America is dropping. People are getting back to work. My attitude is, I don't pay attention to the numbers, however. If a person's looking for work and can't find work, I'm worried about it. And so long as there are people looking for work who can't find work, we're going to continue doing the right thing in Washington to stimulate job creation.

"Now, part of that tax relief package was something really important for the future of the country, for the future of your families. Finally, the United States Congress realized how unfair the death tax is to the people who make a living on the farm. And, finally, we repealed the death tax. (Applause.) Now -- but because of a quirk in the law, that repeal isn't permanent. It's hard for me to explain why. They repeal it, but didn't repeal it. And so what I want you to do is work with members of the United States Senate, so that they do what they did in the House, which is to make the repeal of the death tax permanent. (Applause.) It makes no sense to tax a person's assets twice, and it makes no sense to have a tax that drives people off the farm. For the good of American agriculture, let's make sure that death tax is forever buried, and forever done away with."