[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 114 (Thursday, August 5, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S10497]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 52--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF CONGRESS IN 
  OPPOSITION TO A ``BIT TAX'' ON INTERNET DATA PROPOSED IN THE HUMAN 
  DEVELOPMENT REPORT 1999 PUBLISHED BY THE UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT 
                               PROGRAMME

  Mr. ASHCROFT submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
to the Committee on Armed Services:

                            S. Con. Res. 52

       Whereas the Internet has become a highly valued tool for 
     millions of people in the United States and promises to be an 
     integral component of international commerce communications;
       Whereas the Internet has spurred entirely new industries 
     dominated by the United States and has become critical to the 
     continued growth of our economy;
       Whereas emerging telecommunications technologies promise to 
     extend the benefits of the Internet to a growing percentage 
     of the world population;
       Whereas the Internet should remain tax-free;
       Whereas any global tax collected by the United Nations 
     would present a threat to the sovereignty of the United 
     States and would violate the United States Constitution;
       Whereas Americans are by far the greatest users of the 
     Internet and would thus be disproportionately affected by any 
     global Internet tax;
       Whereas the most effective and just way to spread 
     technology and wealth is through the operation of a free 
     market;
       Whereas the rapidly increasing sophistication and 
     decreasing cost of telecommunications and computing products 
     and services should not be disturbed; and
       Whereas the United Nations Development Programme's Human 
     Development Report 1999 proposed that a so-called ``bit tax'' 
     be levied on all data sent through the Internet: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That Congress urges the Administration to 
     protect the sovereignty of the United States by aggressively 
     opposing the global ``bit tax'' proposed in the Human 
     Development Report 1999 published by the United Nations 
     Development Programme.

  Mr. ASHCROFT. Mr. President. I stand before this body today to 
strongly oppose any attempt made by the United Nations to tax the 
American people. In its recently released Human Development Report, a 
proposal was included that would impose a one cent tax on Internet e-
mail. This proposed tax would violate every virtue of the American 
people. The United States should not be subjected to an internationally 
levied tax.
  The United States was founded on the principle of ``no taxation 
without representation.'' John Locke said, ``If any one shall claim a 
power to lay and levy taxes on the people, . . . without  . . . consent 
of the people, he thereby  . . . subverts the end of government.'' 
Consent, according to Locke, could only be given by a majority of the 
people, ``either by themselves or their representatives chosen by 
them.'' Among the first powers that the Constitution gave to the 
Congress, the government's most representative branch, was the power to 
tax. And, notably, bills to raise revenue must originate in the House 
of Representatives. The United Nations does not hold the power, 
authority or right to levy taxes on the American people. This tax would 
be in direct violation of American sovereignty.
  There are currently 150 million Internet users in the world, 80 
percent reside in the United States. Therefore, the United States would 
bear the biggest burden of this proposed tax. The American people are 
already overtaxed by the U.S. government, without being subjected to a 
tax imposed by the United Nations. By 2001, this number is expected to 
grow to approximately 700 million. If imposed, this tax would raise an 
estimated $70 billion in tax revenue annually, in addition to the 
United States' share of the UN's regular budget of $298 million. Mr. 
President, I firmly believe the Internet should be allowed to progress 
without government involvement or taxation. Instead of trying to tax 
the Internet we should be taking every action necessary to encourage 
its development.
  Mr. President, the American people are constantly burdened by the 
affects of local, state, and federal taxes. Last week alone, we 
historically voted to give the American people a reprieve, cutting 
taxes by $792 billion. The American people do not deserve this unfair 
and unjust tax. The Internet and e-mail are possibly the greatest 
inventions of modern technological history. They have revolutionized 
communication and have changed modern society. This proposed tax by the 
United Nations, or any other tax suggested by the UN--or any other 
international organization--should be aggressively opposed by the U.S. 
government.

                          ____________________