[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 162 (Tuesday, November 16, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H12002]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          NO INTERNET TAXATION

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, our country and even our world economy have 
experienced unprecedented growth thanks to a new frontier we know as 
the Internet. It has been a tremendous success.
  The moratorium that we have established has allowed e-commerce to 
flourish and grow at tremendous rates. Yet we are already hearing 
rumblings of a new user fee regime of taxation on electronic commerce 
that could have serious repercussions for this booming segment of our 
economy.
  Mr. Speaker, we have seen, without Internet taxes, State and local 
governments are collecting record tax revenues, growing at almost twice 
the rate of inflation. In fact, the rise of untaxed electronic commerce 
is helping to generate additional tax revenue for every level of 
government because the Internet has helped create new businesses and 
new high-paying jobs. By extending the moratorium established under the 
Internet Tax Freedom Act of 1998, we can keep the Internet free of 
discriminatory taxes.
  Let us not ruin a good thing. Let us make the moratorium permanent 
and see this unprecedented growth continue.

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