Joe Barton: “I thank the gentleman from Virginia, the full committee chairman, and I would like to enter into a little bit of a…”

“I thank the gentleman from Virginia, the full committee chairman, and I would like to enter into a little bit of a colloquy. I am an original cosponsor. I certainly want to prevent taxation of the Internet, but as you know, I represent one of the 36 districts in Texas, and in my district, my largest city is the city of Arlington, and they currently collect approximately $1 million a year in revenue from connection fees to the Internet in their city limits, and under this bill, that would be prohibited. I had been led to believe that we were going to have the same grandfather provision that we have had for the last 16 years. Apparently, that is not the case. Could the chairman enlighten me why we are not grandfathering existing local collection fees, and what might be done in conjunction with the other body if and when this goes to conference? I yield to the chairman.”