[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 41 (Monday, October 12, 1998)]
[Page 2011]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Senate Action on the ``Internet Tax Freedom Act''

October 8, 1998

    I am pleased that the Senate has joined the House in passing the 
``Internet Tax Freedom Act.'' This bill will create a short-term 
moratorium on new and discriminatory taxes that would slow down the 
growth of the Internet and launch a search for long-term solutions to 
the tax issues raised by electronic commerce. As I said earlier this 
year in my speech on Internet policy, we cannot allow 30,000 State and 
local tax jurisdictions to stifle the Internet, nor can we allow the 
erosion of the revenue that State and local governments need to fight 
crime and invest in education. I look forward to signing this 
legislation into law so that America can continue to lead the world in 
the information age.