Political Quotes

“I also want to make clear to my colleagues that this special tax preemption provision in the bill is a clear violation of the spirit of the Unfunded Mandates Act. I have said that before, but I want to make it clear. This provision will cost my State $4 million in lost revenue. What are we doing to offset the loss from the special tax preemption provision in this bill? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Not a thing. Mr. President, if this special provision had been offered on the Senate floor, I would have offered a second-degree amendment requiring us to at least study the broad scope of the precedent we were setting here before we acted. I am not sure a great deal of thought has been given to the far-reaching effect of this one little amendment in the defense authorization bill. It was a special political decision, and that special political decision will have ripples that will turn into waves in the future. Mr. President, had this special provision been offered on the Senate floor, I would have asked for a study. Let's think through this one. We are preempting the States; we are telling the States how they can tax and how they cannot tax. This is not a Federal tax. This is a State tax. I think my colleagues would have been shocked at how broad this precedent is by applying this sweetheart deal at Federal facilities across the country.”