Statement by Hillary Clinton on the Gas Tax

Hillary Clinton made the following statement today at a "Get Out the Vote" event in Hendersonville, NC.

"We have a choice. We can choose to have you continue to pay the federal gas tax this summer or we can choose to try to make the oil companies pay it out of their record profits.

"This is the kind of choice that I believe we should be trying to make, because I know where I stand and I know where my opponents stand.

"Senator Obama doesn't want us to take down the gas tax this summer and Senator McCain wants us to, but he doesn't want to pay for it. I believe we should impose an excess profits tax on the oil companies. They have record profits that they frankly are just sitting there counting because they are not doing anything new to earn it; they are just taking advantage of what is going on.

"We ought to say: Wait a minute, we'd rather have the oil companies pay the gas tax than the drivers of North Carolina, especially the truck drivers, or the farmers, or other people who have to commute long distances."