SPEECH OF
HON. RON PAUL
OF TEXAS
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Tuesday, June 23, 1998
1998 Ron Paul 66:1
Mr. PAUL.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express
skepticism regarding H.R. 4105, The
Internet Tax Freedom Act. The stated goal of
H.R. 4105 certainly is noble: “A bill to establish
a national policy against State and local
interference with interstate commerce on the
Internet, to exercise congressional jurisdiction
over interstate commerce by establishing a
moratorium on the imposition of exactions that
would interfere with the free flow of commerce
via the Internet, to establish a national policy
against federal and state regulation of Internet
access and online services, and for other
purposes.”
The bill’s name, “Tax Freedom,” also
expresses a laudable notion. One must always
be wary of misnomers in Washington — the
Justice Department comes to mind as one
quick example. The late economic historian,
Murray N. Rothbard, Ph.D., so warned when
he stated “when someone in government
mentions the word ‘fairness’, grab your wallet
and run for the hills.”
I am, nevertheless, always suspicious when
a recently-crafted bill comes to the House floor
not only having bypassed the Committee process
but without any advance warning. Such
was the case with this bill. Moreover, this bill
comes to the floor under suspension of the
rules which does not allow for amendments
and which limits the debate time to twenty
minutes on each side. I, in fact, was denied an
opportunity to speak by those managing the
limited time allowable under this process.
1998 Ron Paul 66:2
However laudable the stated goal of tax
freedom this bill still encroaches on state’s
right to raise revenue and reserves instead
(establishes) an exclusive right for national
and international governments to instead impose
the “proper” form of taxation and distribute
it to local governments as these larger
governmental bodies ultimately see fit. At the
same time, this particular bill rewards those
states which were quick to tax their citizens by
“grandfathering” their taxes while excluding
other States’ rights to do so certainly making
this a bill that lacks uniformity.
1998 Ron Paul 66:3
If the intended purpose of the legislation
was simply to keep the internet tax free, a
three paragraph bill would have been adequate
to accomplish this. Instead, H.R. 4105 is
significantly more complex. It, in fact, creates
a new 30-member federal commission tasked
with, among other things:
1998 Ron Paul 66:4
Examining model State legislation relating
to taxation of transactions using the
Internet and Internet access, including uniform
terminology, definitions of the transactions,
services, and other activities that
may be subject to State and local taxation,
procedural structures and mechanisms applicable
to such taxation, and a mechanism for
the resolution of disputes between States regarding
matters involving multiple taxation;
1998 Ron Paul 66:5
Examining a simplified system for administration
and collection of sales and use tax
for remote commerce, that incorporates all
manner of making consumer payments, that
would provide for a single statewide sales or
use tax rate (which rate may be zero), and
would establish a method of distributing to
political subdivisions within each State
their proportionate share of such taxes, including
an examination of collection of sales
or use tax by small volume remote sellers
only in the State of origin;
1998 Ron Paul 66:6
Examining ways to simplify the interstate
administration of sales and use tax on remote
commerce, including a review of the
need for a single or uniform tax registration,
single or uniform tax returns, simplified remittance
requirements, and simplified administrative
procedures; and
1998 Ron Paul 66:7
Examining the need for an independent
third party collection system that would utilize
the Internet to further simplify sales
and use tax administration and collection;
These H.R. 4105-established “duties” suggest
that the Commission’s real purpose is to
design a well-engineered system of taxation
(efficient tyranny) rather than keep citizens in
a state of “Tax Freedom” as the bill’s name
suggests. I encourage my colleagues in this
House as well as citizens of this country to be
wary of federal and international
encroachment
upon the privacy and efficiency currently
available to individuals around the globe via
the internet.
Notes:
1998 Ron Paul Chapter 66
The text of this chapter was inserted into the section of CongressionalRecord entitled “Extensions of Remarks” and was not spoken on the House floor.
1998 Ron Paul 66:3 on state’s right probably should be on states’ right or perhaps on the state’s right.
