Clinton Warns on Repeal of Gas Tax

President Clinton warned Congress that if it temporarily repealed the 18.4-cent-a-gallon federal gasoline tax for the summer to offset skyrocketing pump prices, lawmakers will also have to postpone highway projects the taxes were meant to fund. A Republican-backed plan to temporarily stop collecting the tax has been offered as a way to defuse motorists’ anger over soaring gasoline prices during the peak summer driving season. Most of the gasoline tax collected by the federal government pays for highway construction projects. Regular unleaded gasoline prices now average $1.65 a gallon nationally.