Don Nickles: “I believe Senator McConnell. I am looking at the amendment. I can read the purpose, but I will tell my colleagues, you…”

“I believe Senator McConnell. I am looking at the amendment. I can read the purpose, but I will tell my colleagues, you can put whatever purpose you want, but the net essence of the amendment is to increase taxes by $39 billion. I appreciate the assumption. I don't know if that scores correctly. I have no idea. I don't know what the tax raises today and I don't know how much money would be raised if it was increased today $1 a pack. I do know a lot of States have been doing this. My Governor in my State of Oklahoma is in the process of trying to increase tobacco taxes as we speak. This would conflict with that to some extent because a lot of States have been doing that. I believe New York and a lot of other States have very hefty taxes. This has been primarily an area where the States have maybe the heavier tax between the Federal and the State. This amendment also purports to say it will increase spending. Just reading the language, it says, 'If the Committee on Appropriations reports the legislation' such-and-such, then the chairman of the Budget Committee may revise aggregates up to. So it doesn't actually directly increase spending. It does directly increase taxes to the tune of $39 billion over the first few years. It assumes there would be a lot of new spending. I want to make that clear.”