PRINTER'S NO. 3809
No. 714 Session of 2004
INTRODUCED BY METCALFE, ARMSTRONG, BARRAR, BENNINGHOFF, COLEMAN,
DALEY, DENLINGER, EGOLF, GABIG, HESS, HORSEY, LEWIS,
WASHINGTON, WEBER, WILT, YOUNGBLOOD AND ZUG, MAY 10, 2004
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON FINANCE, MAY 10, 2004
A RESOLUTION
1 Requesting that the United States Senators from Pennsylvania
2 pass a permanent ban on Internet access taxes.
3 WHEREAS, The Congress of the United States enacted the
4 Internet Tax Freedom Act in 1998 and extended it in 2001 to
5 protect consumers that used the Internet and encourage more
6 individuals to access the Internet; and
7 WHEREAS, This legislation eliminates taxes on Internet
8 access, double taxation of a product or service bought over the
9 Internet and discriminatory taxes that treated Internet
10 purchases differently from other types of sales; and
11 WHEREAS, The moratorium on taxation of Internet access led to
12 the rapid growth of the Internet and attendant economic upturns;
13 and
14 WHEREAS, In this age of innovation, the medium of the
15 Internet is sparking a sharp increase in entrepreneurship and
16 opportunity which has not been seen since the beginning of the
17 Industrial Revolution; and
1 WHEREAS, Enacting a tax on Internet access will significantly
2 damage the United States economy and decrease the standard of
3 living for all Americans; and
4 WHEREAS, On September 17, 2003, the United States House of
5 Representatives unanimously passed a permanent ban on all
6 Internet access taxes, but when the bill came to the Senate
7 floor, pro-tax Senators used parliamentary and procedural tricks
8 to force supporters of the legislation into negotiations; and
9 WHEREAS, Opponents of a tax-free Internet used these
10 negotiations to stall and stop final passage of a permanent ban
11 on Internet access taxes; therefore be it
12 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the
13 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania request that the United States
14 Senators from Pennsylvania pass a clean, permanent and
15 technologically neutral extension of the Internet tax
16 moratorium; and be it further
17 RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
18 each member of Congress from Pennsylvania.
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