[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 72 (Tuesday, May 21, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H5307]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 REPEAL OF 4.3-CENT GAS TAX ILL-ADVISED

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of May 
12, 1995, the gentleman from Colorado [Mr. Skaggs] is recognized during 
morning business for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SKAGGS. Mr. Speaker, the House later today will be voting on 
legislation designed to repeal, supposedly temporarily, although I 
think we should be skeptical of that, repeal the 4.3-cent-a-gallon 
gasoline tax that was enacted just a few years ago. I just want to 
register my concerns in opposition to what I believe is a very ill-
advised move that the Congress seems determined to take. Not that any 
of us want to see consumers paying more for gasoline or other products. 
But we should be under no illusions as to what this will do that is 
beneficial, and, more importantly, what it will do that is really not 
in the national interest, if we repeal this 4.3-cent-a-gallon tax.
  The premise, of course, is that somehow the huge increase that we 
have all experienced at the gasoline pumps over the last couple of 
months, 20 cents a gallon or so, in most places around the country, is 
being driven by a 4-cent-a-gallon tax that was enacted several years 
back. I think that premise of course falls of its own weight, upon any 
kind of examination at all.
  It makes no sense to me whatsoever, as we are trying gamely to get 
the Federal budget balanced, to go out of our way to eliminate one of 
the things that has provided a success story over the last 3 years in 
cutting the deficit in half; namely, that 4-cent-a-gallon gas tax that 
was part of the 1993 budget package. That has succeeded in cutting the 
deficit in half over the intervening 3 years.
  Now, either we are going to have to make up that revenue of about $3 
billion for the rest of this year, or over $30 billion over the next 6 
years, by raising taxes somewhere else, or we will aggravate that 
budget balancing problem that is such a demanding one for us to begin 
with.
  Mr. Speaker, I would rather see us stay the course, get the budget 
into balance, not give up this modest increase in the gasoline tax that 
has, I think, made a good contribution to that fundamental fiscal 
responsibility mission of the Congress over the last 3 years.
  Somehow in this we have also lost sight of what was supposed to be 
our respect for markets and the way that they operate in a free 
enterprise system in this country. I think it is almost unanimously 
held by people that follow this part of the energy market that what we 
experienced with this increase in gasoline prices was the natural 
result of the way refiners had kept making heating oil later than usual 
this year and then got into a crunch as the driving season kicked in. 
We always see an up tick in gas prices about this time of year. So to 
think there was some conspiratorial element in this, I think is 
misplaced.
  That, in a reverse twist, means even if we repeal the gas tax, I am 
not sure we will see a tremendous impact on the pocketbooks of most 
American consumers. The natural fluctuation in energy prices, in 
gasoline prices, will more than eclipse this change in the tax level. 
Just as we never noticed it when it kicked in, because gas prices back 
when this gasoline tax increase took effect were fluctuating by much 
more than 4 cents a gallon through the natural forces of the market.
  I am not sure the consumers will see significant benefit in this. It 
really, I am afraid, is an exercise in election year appeals to some of 
our most understandable, but not necessarily our best instincts, that 
we of course love to pay a little bit less per gallon for gas.
  But let us look at a little longer term. We all know that we are 
going to have to face up to the real demands for energy conservation in 
this country sooner or later. We are going to have to face up to the 
fact that we cannot continue relying on huge quantities, millions of 
barrels of oil a day, imported from elsewhere in the world. This very, 
very modest effort at dealing with an energy conservation objective as 
well as a budget balancing objective in the gas tax increase of 1993 is 
now merely going to be tossed aside.
  Mr. Speaker, I hate to think of how many years are going to have to 
pass before this Congress has the courage, and it took some courage in 
1993 to vote for that very modest gasoline tax increase, before we have 
the courage again to realize that an essential component of sane energy 
policy in this country is going to be conservation and an inevitable 
component of that is going to be pricing.
  So we are really deluding ourselves if we think this is, first, going 
to deal with the budget; second, going to help consumers; or, third, is 
not going to aggravate our energy problems in the long haul.

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