Washington ? The House voted Wednesday to permanently cut estate taxes by the end of the decade, keeping the Republicans’ tax-cut efforts at the top of the congressional agenda.

Republicans, criticizing the levy as a “death tax,” said it forces families to liquidate small businesses and sell family farms to pay tax bills.

“No taxation without respiration,” said Rep. Tom Feeney, R-Fla. “When you quit breathing, we ought to leave you alone.”

Estate taxes are scheduled to disappear in 2010 but reappear a year later, a situation caused by a Senate rule designed to curb budget deficits. The House bill, passed 264-163, would end estate taxes permanently. It would reduce Treasury revenue by $162 billion through 2013.

The bill’s Republican architect, Rep. Jennifer Dunn of Washington, said it was time to end a tax imposed by Democrats in 1916.

“The government figured out one more way to get its hand into your pocket and never let go,” she said.

Democrats countered with an alternative that would prevent 99 percent of estates from being taxed. It would allow an exemption worth $3 million for an individual and $6 million for a married couple.

The House voted 239-188 to reject the Democratic alternative, which was designed to continue taxing the wealthiest estates.

Democrats said the Republican bill would deepen deficits already projected to hit a record $400 billion this year.

“My Republican friends may think they’re burying the estate tax today, but they’re actually burying our children under a mountain of debt,” said Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md.

Internal Revenue Service statistics show that 52,000 estates paid tax in 2000 exceeding $24 billion.

In 2003, those inheriting estates can exempt $1 million from tax and will pay up to 50 percent tax on the remainder. A 2001 law gradually increased the amount that can be exempted from tax, while also gradually decreasing the top tax rate.

A nearly identical bill passed by the House last year died in the Senate, and both supporters and opponents predicted the same result this year.

Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said Democrats could support a significant increase in the size of estates exempted from tax, but he did not see enough support for a permanent repeal.

“Those people whose incomes lie above $8 to $10 million are not ones we ought to be concerned about when we have a $500 billion deficit this year,” he said.

Stephen Moore, president of the conservative Club for Growth, said supporters need two to four votes in the narrowly split Senate to completely eliminate the estate tax.

“I wouldn’t rule it out completely,” he said. “It’s very tough when you’ve only got 51 Republicans.”

The House vote to eliminate estate taxes comes less than a month after President Bush signed a bill cutting taxes on wage and investment income $330 billion through the coming decade.

Republicans said they plan to continue pushing their tax agenda this year, and that eliminating the estate tax is one more step toward making tax laws fairer.

“This isn’t just for rich people. It’s for everybody who shares in the American dream,” said House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill.

Democrats said the GOP tax agenda helps only the wealthy and will threaten to bankrupt important federal programs.

“The Republicans are bringing a continuation of their reckless tax-cutting binge that their on to undermine the fiscal soundness of our country,” said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.