Posted by dc on Friday, October 19, 2001 at 10:58AM :
here is a letter i got
David:
While Congress is fully engaged in addressing the war on terrorism and
safeguarding the public's health, we're also taking positive steps to
energize the economy so that we remain not only physically secure, but
economically strong. Toward that end, I wanted to let you know about what
we're doing in Congress to ensure that the Internet continues to be a safe
harbor for tax-free transactions.
Today the House unanimously passed the Internet Tax Nondiscrimination Act
(HR 1552). This bill extends the moratorium on new access fees, new
taxes, and discriminatory taxes on the Internet to November 1, 2003,
extending the current moratorium that is scheduled to expire on October
21, 2001.
In 2000 retail sales over the Internet amounted to just over 1% of all
retail sales in the United States. Unfortunately, in recent months
leading economic indicators have shown that Internet sales will drop below
1% as Oregon's economy, and the nation's economy in general, continues to
pull itself out of its short-term slump. Because Internet commerce is
still in the early stages of development, it's important that we don't
stifle this new medium with restrictive taxes, particularly in Oregon
where 51% of households have access to the Internet (Oregon ranks 5th
compared to the other 49 states). The passage of HR 1552 in the House is
an important step in the direction of enacting permanent legislation to
keep the Internet free of taxation. The Senate must now proceed with
consideration of this bill before it is sent to the President for his
signature.
I encourage you to visit my website at www.walden.house.gov for continuing
updates on internet commerce, the U.S. response to the September 11th
tragedies and for information on other issues we're addressing in
Congress.
It's an honor to represent you in Congress.
Best regards,
GREG WALDEN
Member of Congress
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