[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 58 (Wednesday, May 1, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H4306]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       WHAT GOP REALLY STANDS FOR

  (Mr. GUTIERREZ asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Speaker, I drove by the gas station today. Premium 
was up. Unleaded was up. But the minimum wage--the salary earned by a 
lot of people who buy the gas and pump the gas--was stuck right where 
it had been.
  Gas prices might be at their highest point in years, but the buying 
power of the minimum wage is soon to be at its lowest point in 40 
years. Our lowest paid employees are getting gouged everywhere--at the 
gas station, at the grocery store. But, instead of giving minimum wage 
employees a break, the Republicans tell them to wait.
  Yes, two bucks a gallon is a lot to pay--especially when you are only 
making four and a quarter an hour.
  But, of course, the Republicans are careful not to cut into the 
profit margin of the oil companies. After all--that is the Republicans' 
profit margin, too. In the past few years, oil and gas companies have 
pumped millions of dollars into Republican campaign coffers. Now I 
finally realize what GOP stands for--gas, oil, and petroleum.
  America's gas tanks are running on empty, but the Republican Party is 
out of gas.

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