[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 13]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 18876]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                         TAXPAYER'S DEFENSE ACT

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                           HON. J.D. HAYWORTH

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 29, 1999

  Mr. HAYWORTH. Mr. Speaker, the Taxpayer's Defense Act, which Mr. 
Gekas and I are introducing today, would establish a system to allow 
Congress, and only Congress, to approve new taxes before they take 
effect. Before an administrative tax could be imposed on the American 
people, an agency would submit the rule or regulation to Congress. The 
Majority Leaders in both the House and Senate would introduce the bill 
by request. The bill would then be subjected to expedited procedures 
and the rule could not go into effect until an approval bill was passed 
by the House and Senate and signed by the President. It is important to 
note that this legislation would only affect future administrative 
taxes, not those currently in effect.
  I believe the constitutional precedent for this legislation is clear. 
Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution gives Congress the ``power to 
lay and collect taxes.'' It doesn't give unelected, unaccountable 
bureaucrats this power; it gives only Congress this power. Moreover, 
the Constitution's ``separation of powers'' doctrine ensures that each 
branch of government would have one specific duty. By delegating 
legislative powers to unelected officials, we are allowing the 
executive branch to become both the maker and enforcer of our nation's 
laws, which is in direct violation of the Founders' intent. By enacting 
the Taxpayer's Defense Act, Congress would once again restore 
accountability to federal taxation and reduce the hidden taxes that are 
being imposed on the American taxpayer.
  While administrative taxation hasn't been used often, it is used 
increasingly to circumvent the legislative process. One of the most 
troubling administrative taxes is the Federal Communications Commission 
tax on long distance telephone service, which is also known as the Gore 
tax. Every telephone caller in the United States is subjected to this 
tax, which raises approximately $2.5 billion annually. Other regulatory 
agencies are also doing an end run around Congress, including the 
Commerce Department's $1 tax on every Internet domain name. The 
National Science Foundation has tried a similar approach by authorizing 
a $30 tax on registration of domain names on the Internet. Fortunately, 
a federal judge ended this illegal tax, but not before taxpayers 
shelled out $60 million. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, through 
the Agricultural Marketing Service, has also gotten into the game with 
taxation of food commodities in order to fund advertising a promotion 
of commodities.
  The point is simple: Americans can't hold unelected executive branch 
employees accountable for administrative taxation. However, Americans 
can hold their representatives accountable for these taxes if we once 
again require Congress to vote on all of these administrative taxes. 
The Taxpayer's Defense Act would achieve this goal.
  In December 1773, American colonists boarded three British ships in 
Boston harbor and emptied chests of tea into the sea. This event, which 
we all know as the Boston Tea Party, celebrated American opposition to 
taxation without representation. That is why the Constitution 
specifically states that Congress shall have the power to tax. I urge 
this Congress to once again make Congress accountable for all taxation 
by passing this important legislation.

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