[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 74 (Thursday, May 20, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H3397]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     TRANSPORTATION BUREAUCRATS SEEK TO PENALIZE WORKING AMERICANS

  (Mr. CHABOT asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, the same Federal government that wants to 
see our medical records, monitor our banking transactions, register our 
private post office box, and if the Vice President has his way, tell us 
where to live, now wants to tax our drive to work every day.
  Transportation officials in Maryland, with the apparent support of 
the Federal Highway Administration, are cooking up a silly idea that 
will allow those who can afford it to skirt rush hour traffic by paying 
to drive in a special HOT or high-occupancy toll lane. Those who cannot 
afford or do not want to pay an additional tax on a highway their tax 
dollars are already paying for are welcome to sit in rush hour traffic 
while those in the so-called Lexus lanes speed by.
  Mr. Speaker, the reason there is a rush hour is that people have to 
go to work. They have to go to work to support their families and to 
pay their taxes, which help to pay the salaries of transportation 
bureaucrats who come up with these lame-brained ideas like this one.
  Let us put a stop to this silliness before it is too late.

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