Political Quotes

“I rise to reiterate that we should not rush headlong, like lemmings to the sea, to repeal the 4.3-cent-a-gallon gasoline tax. When this tax was enacted in 1993, it was specifically dedicated to deficit reduction, and experience to date indicates that the gas tax has been helpful in this regard. Under President Clinton, the deficit, which was at a high of $290 billion in 1992, has been brought down to an estimated $144 billion in the current year. Why repeal this tax, when to do so will slow down or reverse this favorable trend and add billions of dollars to the deficit? Rather, we should consider raising, not lowering the gasoline tax in order to further reduce our deficit. I join the senior Senator from West Virginia [Mr. Byrd] in expressing the thought that we should not accept even a temporary repeal. It has been suggested that the funds with which to finance this repeal may be found by cutting education spending, requiring banks to pay more to the savings association insurance fund, cutting Energy Department expenses, and/or, selling off unused wavelengths on the broadcast spectrum. The disparity of these suggestions seems to indicate that there exists no credible consensus as to exactly how we will be able to pay for this ill-advised tax cut. Probably for these same reasons, the States show no inclination to cut the tax. Across the country, State gasoline taxes often exceed the Federal tax of 18.4 cents per gallon.”