Lincoln Chafee: “Well, Madam President, the point I am making here is that, in 1993--and we were all here at the time--the President of…”

“Well, Madam President, the point I am making here is that, in 1993--and we were all here at the time--the President of the United States came forward with a deficit reduction program. In that deficit reduction program--this was in 1993--there was a 4.3-cent added gasoline tax imposed. It was crystal clear to everybody who paid any bit of attention to it that that was for deficit reduction. That went into the general fund. It wasn't for gas, it wasn't for highways or bridges, it was for deficit reduction. I voted against it. Every single Republican voted against it, but that is neither here nor there. The fact is that it passed. In those days, there were a majority of Democratic Senators in this body, and those 1993 moneys were clearly for deficit reduction. So the reason I am stressing this is because we have heard some powerful discussion here on the floor about truth in taxes and how unfair it is to the American public that when our wives go and pump the gas into the car, they believe that every tax they pay on that is going into roads and bridges. That may be what they think, but that isn't what the facts are. In 1993, it was crystal clear. There was all kinds of debate here. I am not saying that was wrong. I voted against the entire package but, as I said, that is neither here nor there. It is clear that the money for gasoline taxes was to go for deficit reduction.”