James Oberstar: “Mr. Speaker, from a transportation perspective, there are good reasons to oppose this bill, but the most significant is…”

“Mr. Speaker, from a transportation perspective, there are good reasons to oppose this bill, but the most significant is repeal of the 4.3 cent fuel tax for the railroads. That action goes against the spirit of the agreement worked out between rail labor and rail management on a railroad retirement benefit. The parties agreed to divide up equally between management and labor the benefits of a payroll tax reduction. Our committee, the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Committee on Ways and Means crafted a bill, H.R. 4844, that reflected this agreement. Under the bill, the payroll taxes paid by railroads would be reduced $4 billion over 10 years. Railroad retirees and survivors would get roughly the same amount in improved benefits. It was a win for all parties. During Committee on Ways and Means consideration of the bill, there was an amendment added to repeal the 4.3 cent fuel tax. That would have upset the balance of benefits agreed to by management and labor and would have unraveled the unified rail coalition. The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, on a bipartisan basis said, we would not bring the bill to the floor with this provision in it. The offending provisions was stripped prior to floor consideration, and the bipartisan railroad retirement reform legislation passed the House overwhelmingly by a vote of 391 to 25. Now, we have the fuel tax repeal in here.”