Andrea Seastrand: “I am always amazed as a freshman coming to this House to do what my constituents have sent me, to change this place and…”

“I am always amazed as a freshman coming to this House to do what my constituents have sent me, to change this place and to work against the bureaucracy. I am amazed to hear some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. They have never met a tax that they do not like, and they just are holding on to the gas tax, even though we are talking about a temporary repeal of the 4.3-cent gas tax which was enacted by President Clinton and the old 103d Congress, who believed in increasing taxes every time there was a problem. I just would urge my colleagues to let us do this quickly so that we can provide the relief from the recent surge in gas prices, especially before we go into the summer driving and we see Americans increase their driving, and we also see perhaps an increase in the demand for fuel and increased prices. Now, I know it is hard for many of the people here that live on Capitol Hill to understand what it is like 3,000 miles away on the central coast of California and how my constituents have to depend on that automobile, that truck, to get them to and from school, to and from work, to and from the supermarket, getting the children where they have to go, so we drive a lot on the central coast.”