House Resolution 62

A RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI TO PASS A PERMANENT BAN ON INTERNET ACCESS TAXES.

WHEREAS, in 1998, and extended in 2001, Congress enacted the Internet Tax Freedom Act in order to protect consumers that used the Internet and to encourage more individuals to access the Internet; and

WHEREAS, the legislation eliminated taxes on Internet access, double taxation of a product or service bought over the Internet and discriminatory taxes that treated Internet purchases differently from other types of sales; and

WHEREAS, the moratorium on Internet access led to the rapid growth of the Internet, which in turn brought good economic news; and

WHEREAS, we live in an age of innovation, where the medium of the Internet is sparking a sharp increase in entrepreneurship and opportunity, the likes of which have not been seen since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution; and

WHEREAS, enacting a tax Internet access will do significant damage to the United States economy and decrease the standard of living for all Americans; and

WHEREAS, on September 17, 2003, the United States House of Representatives unanimously passed a permanent ban on all Internet access taxes; however, when the bill came to the Senate floor, pro-Internet tax senators used parliamentary and other underhanded procedural tricks to force supporters of the legislation into negotiations; and

WHEREAS, opponents of a tax free Internet used the negotiations to stall and stop final passage of a permanent ban on Internet access taxes in order to achieve their true desire and tax the Internet:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, That the House of Representatives requests that the senators from our state pass a clean, permanent and technologically neutral extension of the Internet tax moratorium.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be furnished to Mississippi's Congressional Delegation and to the members of the Capitol Press Corps.