press release archive

DMA Board Members Meet With Congressional Leadership, Discuss Issues Of Concern To The Industry

Advance Legislative Agenda On Privacy, Internet Taxation And Postal Reform

NEW YORK, June 27, 2000 - The members of the Direct Marketing Association's (The DMA) Board of Directors met with senior congressional leaders while in Washington, D.C. for a board meeting. The purpose of the congressional meetings, which took place on June 15, were to discuss the industry's positions on a variety of issues, including: extending the Internet sales tax moratorium; various privacy issues, and postal reform.

"Congress is presently considering many pieces of legislation that could have a significant impact on all consumers and direct marketers," said H. Robert Wientzen, president & CEO, Te DMA. "As the legislative process continues, it is important that lawmakers hear from the industry and learn more about the issues that affect the public and businesses." Bills of interest include legislation that would extend the current Internet sales tax moratorium for an additional five years (this bill recently passed the House and is now pending in the Senate), and bills that would restrict the free flow of information and access to public information for marketing purposes. Another legislative priority is H.R. 22, postal reform legislation that would provide the U.S. Postal Serice with greater operational flexibility.

Throughout the day, DMA board members met with the following lawmakers:

Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH)
Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI)
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR)
Sen. Peter Fitzgerald (R-IL)
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY)
Sen. John Ashcroft (R-MO)
Rep. Dennis Hastert (R-IL), Speaker of the House
Rep. Henry Hyde, (R-IL), Chairman, House Judiciary Committee
Rep. Charles Pickering (R-MS)
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY)

"Direct marketers generated $1.5 trillion worth of sales in the United States last year, and the fact that we met with so many senators and members of Congress, including the Speaker of the House, is a reflection of the importance to which these public policy-makers hold the industry," said Wientzen.

The Direct Marketing Association is the largest trade association for businesses interested in interactive and database marketing, with more than 5,000 member companies from the United States and 53 other nations. Founded in 1917, its members include direct marketers from every business segment as well as the non-profit and electronic marketing sectors. Included are catalogers, Internet retailers and service providers, financial service providers, book and magazine publishers, book and music clubs, retail stores, industrial manufacturers and a host of other vertical segments including the service industries that support them. According the annual MA study Economic Impact: U.S. Direct and Interactive Marketing Today, direct marketing sales in the U.S. exceeded $1.5 trillion in 1999. The DMA Web site is www.the-dma.org and its consumer Web site is www.shopthenet.org.