Rick Allen: “the reality is, if we pass the Enzi- Dorgan amendment, the substitute, what we are in effect doing is imposing Internet…”

“the reality is, if we pass the Enzi- Dorgan amendment, the substitute, what we are in effect doing is imposing Internet access taxes and allowing discriminatory taxes on the Internet. This is a measure on which I know Senator Enzi and Senator Dorgan have worked hard. Nevertheless, it has been changing almost by the day and certainly almost by the hour in recent weeks. There has not been any scrutiny to it. Let me associate myself, though, with the remarks and observations of Senator Wyden of Oregon. This does complicate the Tax Code. It is a very complex issue which actually makes it worse. There are unfair taxes that could occur even within a State if this were adopted and, indeed, it has added taxes. If we allow this amendment to be put on, let's have no doubt about it; the House is not going to conference. We will have this expired moratorium continuing. There are already States that have access taxes that are grandfathered. These are taxes, such as the Spanish-American war tax that was put on for telephone service, a luxury. Once taxes are put on by a State or locality, it is very hard to get them off. There are two sides. There is a choice Senators are going to need to make. The opponents are for a tax-free Internet. The other side is on the pro-tax-collector side.…”