Douglas Alexander: “Then there are some other steps that have to be taken. Not only is it defined as an unfunded intergovernmental mandate…”

“Then there are some other steps that have to be taken. Not only is it defined as an unfunded intergovernmental mandate, there has to be a certain threshold of spending, $50 million adjusted by inflation, which today would be $64 million. So the Congressional Budget Office has given its opinion on that, and they have said yes; it is an unfunded Federal mandate. So what the legislation provides, and what I plan to do when this comes up on Thursday, is as the law says. That it is not in order for this body to pass an unfunded Federal intergovernmental mandate, and that a point of order may be raised against its consideration. I plan to raise such a point of order. The point of order may be waived by this body by 51 votes, which I hope it does not do because this body told the world in 1995 that it was through with this business of unfunded mandates. But we will see. We will see. I will agree that it sounds good to say we are not going to tax Internet access. I will agree that there may be a Federal interest in not taxing Internet access. I agreed when the issue first came up in the 1990s that while the Internet was still an infant, maybe for the first 3 years a moratorium would be in order. But if we think it is so important, then we should pay the bill.”