I am proud of the quality of ideas Commission members have produced and look forward to the Congressional action on this matter. The Internet can not continue to drive our nation's economic growth if it gets bogged down in thousands of different bureaucratic jurisdictions that want to regulate and tax it.
Taxes are an impediment to economic growth.
Instead of slowing growth, we should be encouraging it. We must provide all of our citizens with the opportunity to join the information age. The Commission's Final Report already has received plaudits from Republicans and Democrats alike. Speaker Hastert said legislation will be introduced in the House to extend the current moratorium on new and discriminatory taxes on the Internet. Minority leader Richard Gephardt also has expressed support for a number of the Commission's proposals, including eliminating the telephone tax, eliminating taxes on Internet access, and extending the current moratorium on new taxes.