Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I wish to clarify one point about nexus versus commerce clause, and I think it has been misstated about tax jurisdiction. There was a case decided in the 1950s called National Bellas Hess that said remote sellers do not have nexus nor can we apply the collection burden because of the commerce clause. When it was decided, what was decided is that, yes, North Dakota had nexus over Quill. We could not apply the sales tax because it was in violation of the commerce clause. The nexus standards have changed from physical presence to economic activity and that is why we are here. We cannot, in my opinion, as a body--and as a lawyer who has studied this area--we cannot change the nexus standards by any statute in this body, so every State will have to defend their own application of nexus. What we are talking about is not nexus; it is commerce clause jurisdiction--the ability to apply it and not violate the interstate commerce clause. So I think we need to be very careful about our terminology. I yield the floor. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee.”