Editor's Note: Here is the weekly message from Congressman Ron DeSantis, the Republican from St. Augustine, representing the 6th district that includes greater Daytona Beach:
WASHINGTON, DC -- The recent decision by the Obama administration to give up U.S. oversight of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and the domain name system is alarming. Even former President Bill Clinton and the left-leaning editorial board of The Washington Post have expressed concerns about this pending transition, noting that empowering international actors might very well facilitate crackdowns on internet freedom.
A Clinton-era law called for this transition; much has changed since then and Clinton’s concerns demonstrate that a transition contemplated when the web was in its infancy is not necessarily good policy today.
The House Judiciary Committee will be doing a hearing on this issue soon and I anticipate legislation being offered to prevent this transition. Also, the internet tax moratorium is scheduled to expire soon, which is why I have cosponsored H.R. 3086, the Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act, which would make the tax moratorium permanent.
It is vital that Congress safeguard consumer access to the internet by protecting against the imposition of onerous taxes and fees on the local level.
If the moratorium is allowed to expire, then consumers will start seeing access charges appear on their bills, indeed, there are a number of jurisdictions that have already passed new access taxes that will automatically take effect upon expiration of the moratorium.
If the moratorium is allowed to expire, then consumers will start seeing access charges appear on their bills, indeed, there are a number of jurisdictions that have already passed new access taxes that will automatically take effect upon expiration of the moratorium.
We can’t let this happen.
Washington being Washington, there is a movement underway to hold the extension of the moratorium on internet access taxes hostage to Congress enacting a tax on internet sales.
The scheme, reportedly hatched by senators such as Harry Reid of Nevada, is basically seeking to leverage the broad bipartisan support in favor maintaining the internet tax moratorium to push through controversial taxes for goods purchased on the internet.
This gambit is wrong.
The internet tax moratorium should be made permanent as soon as possible, with no strings attached.
The internet tax moratorium should be made permanent as soon as possible, with no strings attached.
The House Judiciary Committee also featured me this week on the Committee's Member Spotlight page. My Faithful Execution of the Law Act, which the House passed last month, has been a large component of the committee's work to rein in executive overreach.
Finally, voting for the 2014 Congressional Art Contest has begun Check out all of the great entries our office has received from talented students across the district on Facebook and vote for your favorites by hitting "like." Voting will end on Friday, April 18, and the 10 submissions receiving the most likes will be judged later this month by a panel of local art professionals. Stay tuned for details.
For more frequent updates on legislation and events, please follow me on Facebook and Twitter. I look forward to hearing from you; please do not hesitate to contact either my Washington, DC or Port Orange office should you need any assistance.