[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 103 (Tuesday, July 20, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H5848]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             U.N. PROPOSES TO TAX AMERICANS ON INTERNET USE

  (Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland. Mr. Speaker, the U.N. wants to tax 
Americans who use the Internet to pay for economic development in other 
countries. You heard it right. International bureaucracies at the 
United Nations are now proposing an e-mail tax on Americans.
  This news simply boggles the mind. It is just not enough for liberals 
in Washington to tax everything that moves, every time you turn around, 
for every possible reason under the sun. The U.N., one of the biggest 
anti-American organizations around, now wants to pile on and really 
stick it to America where it hurts.
  Our economy is booming, largely because of phenomenal growth in high 
technology sectors such as the Internet and computer technology. The 
U.N. does not think that is right, and it does not think it is fair 
that America is the world leader in Internet development. So they want 
to tax people who send e-mail.
  This administration, which is the U.N.'s most enthusiastic backer, 
has responded in embarrassed silence. But Republicans think this latest 
U.N. outrage is truly outrageous, and it will stop it dead in its 
tracks.

                          ____________________