|
Chairman
The Honorable James S. Gilmore,
III
Governor
Commonwealth of Virginia
Members
Mr. Dean F. Andal
Chairman
California Board of
Equalization
Mr. C. Michael Armstrong
Chairman and
CEO,
AT&T
Mr. Joseph H. Guttentag
Senior Advisor to the Assistant
Secretary for Tax Policy
U.S. Department of the
Treasury
The Honorable Paul C. Harris Sr. Delegate
Virginia House
of Delegates
The Honorable Delna Jones
Commissioner
Washington
County, Oregon
The Honorable Ron Kirk
Mayor
City of Dallas
The Honorable Michael O. Leavitt
Governor
State of
Utah
Mr. Gene N. Lebrun
President (1997-1999)
National
Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws
The Honorable Gary Locke
Governor
State of
Washington
Mr. Grover Norquist
President
Americans for Tax
Reform
Mr. Robert Novick
General Counsel
U.S. Trade
Representative
Mr. Richard Parsons
President
Time Warner, Inc.
Mr. Andrew Pincus
General Counsel
U.S. Department of
Commerce
Mr. Robert Pittman
President & Chief Operating
Officer
America Online
Mr. David Pottruck
President & co-Chief Executive
Officer
Charles Schwab and Company
Mr. John W. Sidgmore
Vice Chairman
MCI WorldCom and
Chairman UUNET
Mr. Stanley Sokul
Independent Consultant
Association
for Interactive Media
Mr. Theodore Waitt
Chairman
Gateway,
Inc. |
|
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For Immediate
Release
May 25, 2000 |
Press
Contacts:
Debbie Neville
O'Keeffe &
Company, Inc.
(703) 883-9000, ext.
104
dneville@okeeffeco.com |
Heather
Rosenker
Executive Director
Advisory Commission on
Electronic Commerce
(703)
993-8049
rosenker@gmu.edu |
Mark Miner
Press
Secretary
Office of the Governor of Virginia
(804)
692-3110
mminer@gov.state.va.us |
House Approves Another
E-Commerce Commission Policy Proposal
- House
Repeals 102-Year Old Telephone Tax -
Arlington, VA - May 25, 2000 - Congress continued acting on
the Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce's Report today
as the House of Representatives voted 420 to 2 to repeal the
three percent Federal telephone tax. "This vote marks yet
another victory for the Commission and American taxpayers,"
said Virginia Governor, James S. Gilmore, III, the
Commission's Chairman. "The federal telephone tax is one of
the most regressive taxes in America. All Americans need a
telephone in the Information Economy and this tax impedes
growth of the Internet. I am happy to see the telephone tax
die."
HR 3916 was sponsored by Representatives Rob Portman (R-OH)
and Robert Matsui (D-CA). The bill would phase out the Federal
communications excise tax over the next two years, completing
in October of 2002. The three percent tax appears on each
consumer's monthly telephone bill and applies to all local and
long-distance telephone service, including the use of phone
lines to access the Internet. The tax was first levied in 1898
as a luxury tax on the few Americans who owned telephones in
order to fund the Spanish American War.
The Commission's Report to Congress, submitted April 12 of
this year, called on Congress to abolish the tax completely in
order to:
- Relieve tax burdens on Internet connections;
- Reduce the cost of Internet access; and
- Help bridge the digital divide.
The Commission was created 20 months ago by the Internet
Tax Freedom Act and concluded its work by forwarding its
Report to Congress in April 2000.
About the Advisory Commission on Electronic
Commerce
Appointed by Congress in October 1998 as part of the
Internet Tax Freedom Act, the 19-member Commission was tasked
with studying the impact of federal, state, local and
international taxation and tariffs on transactions using the
Internet and Internet access. The Commission's recommendations
were provided to Congress on April 12, 2000, ahead of the
deadline of April 21, 2000.
###
www.ecommercecommission.org
3401 North Fairfax
Drive
Telephone: (703) 993-8049 · Facsimile: (703)
993-8250 |
