The U.S. House has passed a resolution to repeal the so-called death tax. U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Albany, was the lead Democratic sponsor of the legislation.

House Resolution 1105, the Brady-Bishop Death Tax Repeal Act of 2015, repeals the federal estate tax that is now set at a maximum level of 40 percent with a $5.4 million exemption for individuals and $10.8 million exemption for couples. The measure passed 272-152 and goes to the Senate for consideration.

“The Death Tax undermines the life work and the life savings of farmers and small- and medium-sized businesses in Georgia and across the nation,” Bishop said. “Let’s allow it to peacefully die and stay dead so that the United States can join us the rest of the industrialized world and no longer punish savings and investment.”

Bishop called the the current tax a “tax on success,” saying owners of family farms and business in many cases are forced to liquidate assets when the properties are passed on after death.

“It’s my duty to protect the farmers of Georgia,” Sanford said, “We raise more peanuts in Georgia than any other state as well as blueberries and some other crops. The tax isn’t good for Georgia or for the nation. Only Japan and two or three other countries still have an estate tax like ours.”

U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, was the lead Republican sponsor of the resolution.

“The Death Tax is an immoral tax and a calculated attack on the American Dream,” Brady said. “It hurts our economy, punishes success and prevents family-owned businesses and farms from being passed down to the next generation. Over time it will steal the nest egg of minority and women-owned businesses, the fastest growing group of new start-ups in America who are building wealth for the very first time.”

Bishop said that although he hopes the resolution will pass the Senate, President Barack Obama opposes the bill and has promised to veto it. A two-thirds majority in each house of Congress is required to override a presidential veto.