Political Quotes

“I appreciate the very sincere and committed effort the Senator has made to try to arrive at a resolution, and I hope in this debate which has arisen today, and will arise with greater frequency now that the moratorium is about to lapse, that we can reach such a resolution. What I think is basic is, first, the Constitution. The Constitution vests--and it was one of the most controversial debates at the Constitutional Convention of 1787--in the Federal Government the control of interstate commerce. The Supreme Court, as I read the most recent opinions on this issue, did not say requiring distant sellers to collect sales tax was unconstitutional. Rather, they said it was unauthorized; that it would take an affirmative act of Congress to sanction the States to require distant sellers--that is, sellers who did not have a physical presence in their State--to collect their sales tax. So the issue is, we have to take an affirmative act in order to empower the States to require that distant sellers should collect their sales tax.”