John Campbell: “Let's make it clear what this bill does not do. What it does not do is it does not prohibit States or localities from…”

“Let's make it clear what this bill does not do. What it does not do is it does not prohibit States or localities from putting general application taxes on Internet transactions as they would apply if that transaction were taking place not on the Internet. For example, it does not ban sales taxes on transactions over the Internet, as long as those taxes are the same sales taxes as would be applied if that purchase was transacted in a store or over a catalog, but what it does do is it says you cannot put discriminatory taxes on the Internet. You cannot take that sales transaction and give it a sales tax that is higher because it was transacted over the Internet than if it were not. It also says that you cannot tax access or use to the Internet. Can you imagine, can anyone out there imagine that if every time you sent an e-mail there was a tax that went on your credit card or something for using it, or every time you went on a Web site, there was a tax? That's absolutely unconscionable. Particularly today, when we realize how much of the economic growth we have experienced in this decade has come from the Internet and how much distribution of knowledge there has been and how it is a great equalizer that so many people at so many incomes and in so many locations are able to access knowledge that was previously unavailable. The Internet has been a great engine for economic growth and for the distribution of knowledge.”