By MAC COLLINS
Congressman

A critical responsibility of any member of Congress is to listen to constituents — to listen, to hear, and to reflect their views in Congress. I take this responsibility seriously. As I meet with individuals, groups and businesses in Georgia to discuss the issues and review the many accomplishments of the 106th Congress, the common question is not campaign finance, gun control or other traditional legislation. It is “what is Congress going to do about the high price of gasoline?”

In response, I have introduced the Fuel Tax Cost Reduction Act of 2000 (H.R. 4006), which repeals the 4.3 cent per gallon fuel tax which was imposed on consumers in 1993 and the 5 cents per gallon tax levied in 1990 on diesel and gasoline. My bill also protects the transportation trust funds from any losses caused by the tax relief.

Many solutions for the high cost of fuel are being debated. But Congress has a direct role in only one aspect of the problem, and that is to reduce the fuel taxes which have been levied by the federal government over the past decade.

The 4.3 cent per tax had been imposed for the purpose of “decreasing the deficit” at a time when unending deficits had been predicted totaling over a trillion dollars. With Republicans assuming the majority in 1995, and with the fiscal restraint which followed, we are now running a positive cash flow. I think that when you end a deficit, you should also end a deficit reduction tax, especially when ending that tax would ease the pain of rapidly escalating fuel prices.

Higher fuel prices are having a tremendous impact on working Americans. Let me cite a few statistics:

” Gasoline prices have risen from 92 cents per gallon thirteen months ago, to $1.52 today. This is a national average; many regional amounts are even greater.

” Families are spending an extra $9.00 per fill-up, based upon a typical car holding 15 gallons of fuel.

” Heating oil costs soared: $125 for a fill up in Georgia with a 500-gallon tank; $500 for a tank in New England and the Mid-Atlantic states.

” Airline tickets have risen by an average of $5 to $20 each, despite the fact that airlines and their stockholders are absorbing part of the increase. Consider one example: a 50 cent per gallon increase in the price of jet fuel has raised the cost of a fill-up of a Boeing 747 by $28,642.

” It costs an additional $150 per fill-up for many tractor-trailers which haul a large share of the nation's produce and products. Annual fuel costs have risen $12,500 for the average rig which gets six miles to the gallon and is driven 150,000 miles.

” The cost of operating a locomotive which also hauls the nation's commodities has risen by $175,000 per year.

Regardless of which industry is consuming fuel, it is the individual consumer who will bear the ultimate burden of the fuel increases. The high cost of transportation will work its way into every thing we buy, from food to furniture. The high cost of fuel does not stop at the supermarket checkout counter. It has an impact at the local bank as well, because historically, interest rates have peaked after energy price spikes.

From 1974 to 1975, after the OPEC-led oil embargo of the previous year, inflation nearly doubled to 12.3 percent. At that time the prime rate skyrocketed to 12 percent. Again, after the Iranian revolution and ensuing oil shock of 1979, inflation hit double-digits, peaking at 13.3 percent. The prime rate then shot up to 20 percent in 1980. It is not hard to imagine the impact higher rates will have on job creation, on every American buying a house or car, and on every family trying to pay off credit cards.

Fuel tax relief is only one part of a comprehensive solution. Since the root of the problem is our dependence upon foreign oil, we must use short- and long-term approaches. We must put pressure on OPEC nations for increased production. This week, we are closely monitoring discussions of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which is considering raising oil production by 1.7 million barrels per day (mbd). This is less than the 2.3 mbd increase which our Department of Energy says is necessary to significantly lower prices. Regardless of the final decision of OPEC, any production increase will not be felt at the pump for months. James Falvey, an oil analyst with Dresdner Kleinwort and Benson, told CNN he does not expect the price of oil to decline from $27-a-barrel, at least for the first six months, as the increase in supply makes its way down the pipeline.

We must also encourage more domestic production and higher energy efficiency. The President should release oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve to put more crude on the market. For the short term and immediate relief for American consumers, however, Congress should reduce the federal taxes on fuel. We must bring all pressure to bear on the oil companies to fully pass through the tax relief to consumers. We must take every reasonable step to bring relief. We cannot simply stand by and do nothing for working Americans. The House and Senate leadership are both considering proposals to reduce the federal fuel tax. Congress should pass fuel tax relief with no further delay.

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