Rick Allen: “I rise this evening to ask my colleagues to support S. 150, the Internet Tax Nondiscrimination Act, and the substitute…”

“I rise this evening to ask my colleagues to support S. 150, the Internet Tax Nondiscrimination Act, and the substitute or managers' amendment that has recently been adopted. I thank our chairman of the Commerce Committee, John McCain, our commodore, on his great navigational skills as we worked through this measure. I also thank my colleague from Oregon, Senator Wyden, for his great leadership, assistance, and true partnership in trying to get this measure through for greater opportunity for Americans. I also thank others who are on this amendment, Senators Grassley, Hatch, Sununu, Leahy, Baucus, Boxer, Lincoln, Smith, the high-tech task force chairman, Senator John Ensign, Senator Warner of Virginia, Senator Burns, who is chairman of the Internet Caucus, and the Senator who is in the chair right now, Mr. Chambliss. All have helped work on this reasonable compromise. There have been a number of concerns to this measure raised by our opponents. We have had several months of negotiations. I am confident the bill as it is presented to us on the Senate floor strikes an appropriate balance between protecting every American from harmful regressive taxes on Internet access while ensuring that necessary protections are in place for State and local governments to maintain their existing revenue base.”