Marketplace Fairness Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I thank my colleague from Tennessee. If this is truly a bipartisan effort on both sides of the issue, Democrats and Republicans see it differently. The distinguishing feature of those who oppose this is that so far the leading opponents are from States with no sales tax--New Hampshire, Oregon, Montana. One other State in America does not have a sales tax--Delaware. They see it differently. They are supporting the bill.

Here is what it boils down to. If this bill passes as written, at the end of the day a resident of Montana still will not pay sales tax on any purchases they make in a store or on the Internet. Residents of Oregon will not pay a sales tax on any purchase they make in an Oregon store or over the Internet. The same holds true for New Hampshire. They are held harmless from the impact of this measure.

However, if an Internet retailer in any of those no-sales-tax States wants to sell in Maine or Illinois, the terms of doing business under here are that they will collect the sales tax that is owed in that State. It is that simple.

People have tried to make this more complicated. It is not. They have also suggested it is just going to be beyond anyone to calculate what the sales tax might be. That is just plain wrong. We are way beyond the quill pen and ledger days. We are now dealing with software easily available for a very small amount of money that can be given to any retailer to know exactly when Durbin of Bates Avenue in Springfield, IL, 62704, buys a product and what sales tax should be collected. And the bill provides that each State has to provide the retailer, free of charge, with the basic software so that they can use it to collect the appropriate sales tax.

They are trying to make this more complicated than it is. Thanks to computers and thanks to software, it is not that complex, and neither is the issue that is underlying this debate. The issue is this: How in the world can you expect the bricks-and-mortar businesses of America to compete with Internet competition when the bricks-and-mortar businesses have to collect sales tax and the Internet competitor does not? In my State, that is an 8-, Ð9-, or 10-percent advantage, and it is shifting more sales to the Internet and away from the local stores. I don't think that is fair.

We are asking for a level playing field. A level playing field says that if you want to sell to a consumer in Illinois directly over the counter or over the Internet, you collect the same sales tax. It is just that simple. If you don't want to, if your business in Montana or Oregon does not want to collect sales tax for sales in Illinois, it is simple: You don't sell in Illinois. It is their choice, their call. I think that is basic fairness.

Look at the groups that are supporting this. I could sit here for the rest of my time and read all the organizations supporting this--the obvious ones, the retailers across America, the men and women with the stores. The small businesses we venerate in speeches all the time on the floor of the Senate are begging us to do this so they have a fighting chance against Internet retailers. We are also getting a lot of support from Governors, from mayors, from labor unions. It is a diverse group--business and labor. They believe it not only is fair but it will raise revenue that is badly needed in a lot of these local units of government.

I might also say that when you take a look at the impact of the current situation, you can understand why this is long overdue. Mike Enzi was on the floor earlier. He has been for 12 years trying to change this. People say: Regular order; we ought to take a little more time. You can understand that our patience is wearing thin--MIKE's more than mine. I have only been at this for a few years. But we reached this point. We had a vote on the budget resolution. We asked the Members of the Senate: What do you think about this issue?

Forty-nine from the Democratic side and 26 from the Republican side said: We favor going forward on this issue.

That is the vote we will have in a few minutes. We should go forward on this too. Those who have constructive, relevant, germane amendments, bring them to the floor. Let's have a conversation. Let's get this issue done this week. Let's make sure we meet the challenge we have been given.

I thank the Senator from Tennessee for making this as clear as I think any former Governor can make it. If you want to do business in Tennessee, play by Tennessee rules and obey Tennessee law. If you don't, it is just that simple and fair.

In terms of imposing a new tax, this bill does not create one new tax.

First, there are no Federal taxes in here--none. Second, we don't even have the power to impose a new State sales tax, nor would we try. There are no new taxes. It is simply a question of compliance and collecting the taxes already owed in the 46 States that currently have sales-and-use taxes.

I urge my colleagues to come forward tonight at 5:30 and vote for cloture on the motion to proceed. Let us engage in this important debate. Let us not put this off another day, another week, or another month. Let's bring this to a conclusion in the Senate with a good, wholesome debate on a bipartisan basis. Germane, relevant, and constructive amendments that address these issues are welcome. Bring those amendments forward. Let's not burn up the hours of the day and the hours of the week in quorum calls. Let's get down to the business in the Senate we were meant to do.

I yield the floor.

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