[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 81 (Friday, June 19, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6700-S6701]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. ASHCROFT:
  S. 2198. A bill to amend title 5, United States Code, to provide for 
Congressional review of rules establishing or increasing taxes; to the 
Committee on Governmental Affairs.


                       the taxpayers' defense act

  Mr. ASHCROFT. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Taxpayer's 
Defense Act. Quite simply, this bill prohibits any agency from 
establishing a tax on the American people.
  Mr. President, as we all know, the United States was founded on one 
simple and fundamental principle--no taxation without representation.
  In ``The Second Treatise of Government'', John Locke said, ``if 
anyone shall claim a power to lay and levy taxes on the people . . . 
without . . . consent of the people, he thereby . . . subverts the end 
of government.'' According to Locke, consent required agreement by a 
majority of the people, ``either by themselves or their representatives 
chosen by them.'' The Declaration of Independence listed, among the 
despotic acts of King George, his ``imposing taxes on us without our 
consent.''
  The Boston Tea Party remains the symbol of Americans' opposition to 
taxation without representation. The Constitutional authority--given 
only to Congress--to establish federal taxes is clear. Its reasoning 
also is clear. It is the Congress that represents the people. Only 
Congress considers and weighs every issue that rises to national 
importance. While federal agencies consider their own priorities to be 
paramount, only Congress can determine which goals merit a tax on the 
American people.
  The modern era of restricted federal budgets, however, threatens to 
erode the essential principle of ``no taxation without 
representation.'' In many subtle and often hidden ways, federal 
agencies are receiving from Congress the power to tax.
  They tax by adding unnecessary charges to legitimate government user 
fees. They tax through federal mandates. These taxes pass the cost of 
government on to the American people--without their knowledge.
  The worst example of administrative taxation is the Federal 
Communications Commission's Universal Service tax. ``Universal 
service'' is the idea that everyone should have access to affordable 
telecommunications services. It originated at the beginning of the 
century when the first national telecommunications service was still 
being created. This idea was expanded in the Telecommunications Act of 
1996, which allowed the FCC to extend universal service funds to 
provide ``discount telecommunications services'' to schools, libraries, 
and rural health care facilities.
  Most importantly, the Act gave the FCC the power to decide the level 
of ``contributions''--taxes--that telecommunications companies would 
have to pay to support universal service. The FCC now determines how 
much must be collected in taxes that subsidize a variety of ``universal 
service'' spending programs. Long distance providers pass the costs on 
to consumers in the form of higher telephone bills. In the first half 
of 1998, the tax was $625 million, and the Clinton Administration's 
budget projects it will rise to $10 billion per year. This 
administrative tax is already out of control.

  This is possible because Congress delegated its authority to tax. The 
FCC is able to collect taxpayer dollars at levels it sets--without 
approval from Congress or the people. The FCC can defy Congress and the 
people because it has the power to levy taxes.
  Mr. President, some people thought the tax and spend liberals had 
left Washington. Not so. Washington interest groups who want to feed at 
this new federal trough already are geared up to accuse the Republic 
Congress of cutting funding for education and health care if any 
attempt is made to rein in the FCC. They will frame the issue as a 
matter of federal entitlements for sympathetic causes and groups.
  The most sympathetic group is the American taxpayer, whose money is 
being taken, laundered through the Washington bureaucracy, and returned 
for purposes set by unelected Washington bureaucrats. This is why the 
FCC must be required to get the approval of

[[Page S6701]]

Congress before setting future tax rates.
  Should tax dollars be used for federal universal service programs and 
what amounts or should Americans spend what they earn on their own, 
real, local priorities? Requiring Congress to review any administrative 
taxes would answer this question.
  My bill would create a new section to the Congressional Review Act 
for mandatory review of certain agency rules. Any rule that establishes 
or raises a tax would have to be submitted to and receive the approval 
of Congress before taking effect. In essence, the Act would disable 
agencies from setting taxes, but would allow them to formulate 
proposals under existing rulemaking procedures.
  Once submitted to Congress, a taxing regulation would be introduced 
in both the House and Senate by the Majority Leader. The rule would 
then be subject to expedited procedures, allowing a prompt decision on 
whether or not to approve a rule. The rule would have to be approved by 
both Houses and signed by the President.
  Congress must not allow a federal agency--unelected and unaccountable 
federal bureaucrats--to determine the amount of taxes hardworking 
Americans must pay. The Taxpayers' Defense Act will require Congress to 
stand up and face the American people when it decides to tax. The cry 
of ``no taxation without representation'' has gone up in the land 
before, and today we are hearing it again. It is time that we respond.

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