[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 72 (Tuesday, May 21, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H5311]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    A BAD DEAL FOR OUR CONSTITUENTS

  (Mr. WISE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. WISE. Mr. Speaker, as I drove several hundred miles across the 
State of West Virginia yesterday visiting flood-hit areas, I stopped 
off at a lot of gasoline stations. I saw gasoline selling for 
everything and bulk gasoline selling for everything from $1.28 to $1.37 
a gallon for 87 octane regular, and as I would stop, I would ask them 
how they felt about getting 4.3 cents back or having the Congress 
actually cut the gasoline tax by 4.3 cents. ``Where does it go, Bob? 
Are we going to get it?''
  Well, of course, I told them that the Congress would not be permitted 
to offer an amendment guaranteeing it went to the consumer.
  ``You are telling us we don't automatically get it?''
  ``No, you don't automatically get it. In fact the chances are good 
that the savings will actually go either to oil companies or to foreign 
oil producers.''
  Well, what good does that do?
  They would be even less happy to know that the roughly $3 billion 
that this will cost while, yes, it will be made up by selling the 
spectrum in telecommunications, that that is $3 billion that could have 
been used for deficit reduction. And then again when we need more 
deficit reduction, what are they going to cut? That will be education.
  It is not a good deal.

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