Dianne Feinstein: “I want to comment for a couple of minutes on the discussion that was had with Senator McCain, Senator Dorgan, and…”

“I want to comment for a couple of minutes on the discussion that was had with Senator McCain, Senator Dorgan, and Senator Wyden and the concern here of the telecommunications taxes which have been exempted from the bill--in other words, those that have always been a legitimate source of revenue raising. I have an Ernst & Young study going back to 1999 that shows, for example, in the taxes collected by California in the year 1999, on telecommunications transaction taxes, the amount was $802 million. It doesn't say which precise taxes those are. This is the depth of this problem. This is not a small problem. What bothers me is we are moving on without really knowing. The finance officers of the larger cities of California tell me one thing. The Senator from Arizona believes that is not correct and says the intention of the bill is not, in fact, to make these non-DSL telecommunications services tax-exempt. I would like to ask the Senator from Arizona.”