The federal "death tax" allows a credit, known as the annual exclusion
amount, which is a maximum amount a person can own in asset value
before a death tax must be paid. This year that amount is one million
dollars per individual. I have heard that Richard Gephardt of Missouri
has gone on record during the last ten years or so stating that he
feels the annual exclusion amount should be $200,000 per person.

I need a credible, quotable,  newssource that I can quote that would
verify Gephardt made such a statement. And generally, a source to
locate public statements made by politicians, celebs, etc on current
interest topics.

Hi quigley!

What I found is not a quote, but certainly a confirmation of what you
heard. Gephardt co-sponsored a bill in 1992 that advocated a $200,000
exemption/exclusion amount for the death/estate tax.

From Bill Federer's 2000 campaign site (Federer ran against Gephardt
in that election):

"Gephardt sponsored a bill to lower the exemption for the Estate/
Death Tax to $200,000, taxing all assets above that at 55%. (HR 4848,
1992)"
( http://gxs.net/samples/archives/federer/news/000926.asp )


From Lawyeratlarge.com's page on Estate Planning:

"...the Democrats have proposed in 1992 House Resolution 4848 which
called for taxing all estates over $200,000 in value. The current law
taxes only those estates over $600,000 in value. If HR 4848 passed, a
$600,000 estate would have had to pay nearly $60,000 in additional
taxes... In 1992, the Republican Party gained control of Congress for
the first time in forty years. One of the first acts of the new
Republican Congress was to defeat the attempt to enact HR 4848 into
law."
( http://www.lawyeratlarge.com/Common/Previews/Estate1.html )


From a Townhall.com column by Phyllis Schlafly entitled "Americans
need a tax cut now," dated April 4, 2001:

"In 1992, candidate Bill Clinton defined "the rich" as those "over
$200,000," but he was referring to lifetime savings NOT annual income.
The Democrats' tax plan sponsored by then-Majority Leader Richard
Gephardt (H.R. 4848) and then-Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell
(S. 2571) would have reduced from $600,000 to $200,000 the property
exempt from the death tax. "
( http://www.townhall.com/columnists/phyllisschlafly/ps20010404.shtml
)


The House of Representatives' "History of Bills and Resolutions"
document offers this description of 4848 (page 3338):
"H.R. 4848—A bill to amend the Social Security Act to assure universal
access to long-term care in the United States, and for other purposes;
jointly,
to the Committees on Ways and Means; Energy and Commerce.
By Mr. WAXMAN (for himself and Mr. Gephardt),[9AP] Cosponsors added,
[5MY], [4JN], [16JN], [8JY]:
( http://www.house.gov/house/govsites.html )

I tried to get a link to the full text of HR 4848 (or S 2571), but
could not find any free online records that go as far back as the
102nd Congress.  I hope the sources above answer the first part of
your question.


As far as quotes on current interest topics, here are some sites that
should prove to be great resources:

Federal News Service - http://www.fnsg.com/
dmoz says "News organization that transmits verbatim texts of
political statements, events, and interviews by U.S. and Russian
political leaders."

PR Newswire, Washington and the World -
http://www.prnewswire.com/washington/LEG.shtml
dmoz says "Up-to-the-minute source for news and press releases about
Congressional and State legislation."

Political News Daily - http://www.politicalnewsdaily.com/
dmoz says "Political news updated daily from the AP, Reuters, NY
Times, Washington Post and more. Site also includes useful political
sites."
It is an extremely comprehensive source for current political activity
and resources.

The Creative Coalition -
http://www.thecreativecoalition.org/newsite/about.html
A non-profit, non-partisan group of politically active actors,
writers, directors, and other arts & entertainment professionals.


Thanks for the opportunity to look into this interesting question, and
to find sources for the future.  Please feel free to request
clarification if I can be of more help!

Best,
Rebecca



I searched for:

gephardt on the death tax (
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=gephardt+on+the+death+tax
)

gephardt  "HR 4848" 1992 (
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&querytime=mGE93B&q=gephardt++%22HR+4848%22+1992
)

"HR 4848" 1992 tax (
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&querytime=4nnS&q=%22HR+4848%22+1992+tax
)

102nd congress bills (
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=102nd+congress+bills
)

102nd congress ( ://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=102nd+congress
)

"politically active celebrities" (
://www.google.com/search?q=%22politically+active+celebrities%22&hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&start=10&sa=N
)

current issues quotes (
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=current+issues+quotes
)

current public political statements (
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=current+public+political+statements
)

This is exactly what I was looking for!!! I want this researcher on my team.

I'll happily be on your team any day.  Thanks for the great question,
and generous feedback!