Heidi Alexander: “I know Senator Barrasso is coming, but until he does, I wish to make a few comments about the Marketplace Fairness Act…”

“I know Senator Barrasso is coming, but until he does, I wish to make a few comments about the Marketplace Fairness Act, which is the legislation before us today, and especially, to begin with, Senator Heitkamp's address, the new Senator from North Dakota. It is rare that a new Senator has a chance to come to the Senate and in her first few months find us debating a bill she brought when she was a State official in North Dakota 20 years ago. That shows why the Senate is a good place for people with a little bit of experience because she can bring to us exactly what we are talking about. Her story about the small business people who are making a few dollars and have a very small margin for profit and then who are discriminated against by out-of-State sellers who don't have to collect the tax that is already owed is a real story, and she made a remarkably good address and I compliment her for that and welcome her to the Senate. Sometimes we launch into these complicated debates without saying what we are talking about. Let me see if I can say in a few simple words exactly what we are talking about here. My wife gave me an ice cream freezer for my birthday last year. She got it from Williams-Sonoma. It is not one of those freezers you have to crank, as I did when I was a kid, and when you eat the ice cream it makes your head hurt because you would eat it too fast.…”