"While

this legislation cannot take away the pain and loss of the families of

victims, it will help lessen the financial burden for those individuals

suffering tremendously from the barbaric acts of terrorism that took the

lives of so many on Tuesday," said Collins. "The passage of

this legislation is proof that those of us who represent the American

people in government will not be deterred from performing our duties and

enacting measures that will provide assistance."

This legislation

will extend current law provisions that already apply to members of the

Armed Forces who are killed while serving in a combat zone. Specifically,

the bill will reduce the estate tax by more than half for all individuals

who were killed as a result of last week's terrorist attack, or who die

as a result of injuries suffered from the attack. In addition, the bill

exempts individuals from paying Federal income taxes in the year of their

death if they die during or as a result of injuries suffered in last week's

disaster.

The bill also

clarifies that the $25,000 per passenger payments made by United Airlines

to families of passenger victims will be exempt from Federal income taxes.

Payments made by American Airlines would receive similar treatment.

Finally, it

would ensure that all assistance payments from the Federal Emergency Management

Agency with regard to the tragedy will be exempt from Federal income tax.