High Tech Loses in Republican Leadership Contests

(November 19, 1998)  The House Republicans elected new leaders on Wednesday, November 18.  All candidates have been supportive of the computer and Internet industry.  However, the strongest supporters of high tech were not picked.

The pick for Speaker, Bob Livingston, does not have the record of support for high tech that his original opponent, Chris Cox, has.  Jennifer Dunn from Seattle, who is ardently pro tech, lost her bid for the Majority Leader.  And, J.C. Watts, the new GOP Conference Chairman, voted against the H1B visa bill.

Tech Law Journal examined the level of support of the incumbents and candidates for all Republican leadership positions on five criteria.  Their positions are set out in tables below.

• H-1B visas.  Roll call vote on HR 3736 on September 24, 1998.   This bill increases the annual cap for temporary visas issued to foreign high tech professionals.
• Securities Reform.  Roll call vote on the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act on July 22, 1998.  This bill makes it harder to bring meritless class action securities fraud suits against high tech companies.
• Crypto.  There was no roll call vote in the House on any encryption issue.  However, HR 695, the Safety and Freedom through Encryption Act (SAFE), was sponsored by over one half of the members of the House, and serves as a measure of support for encryption rights.
• ITFA.  The Internet Tax Freedom Act, which places a three year moratorium on new discriminatory state or local taxes on the Internet passed, but there was no roll call vote in the House.  Hence, sponsorship of the original version of the bill, HR 1054 is used here.  Over 100 members cosponsored this bill.
• Internet Caucus.  Membership in the Internet Caucus is the final criterion.  Almost one quarter of the members of the House are members.

The race for the Speakership is illustrative.  The outgoing Speaker, Newt Gingrich, was pro high tech on three of these five criteria.  His replacement, Bob Livingston is pro high tech on only two issues.  In contrast, Chris Cox, the man who also sought the speakership, but dropped out of the race on November 9 when he realized he did not have the votes to win, was an ideal candidate for high tech interests.

Cox supported the high tech position on all five criteria used in this article.   Moreover, he was the lead sponsor of the Internet Tax Freedom Act in the House, and the primary field commander in the battle for its passage in the House.  He has also been active for years in securities litigation reform, and in fighting to keep the Federal Communications Commission from regulating the Internet.

In the race for the number two spot, Majority Leader, Dick Armey fought off four challengers.  Armey has been very pro tech, and on the five criteria used to rate Representatives in this article, he took the pro high tech position four out of five times.

However, one of his opponents was Jennifer Dunn, from Seattle.  She took the high tech position on all five criteria.  Also, by running for Majority Leader, she lost her position as a more junior member of the leadership team.

There was no change in the number three position, Majority Whip.  Tom Delay has been supportive of the high tech industries.

In the race for the number four spot, J.C. Watts upset the incumbent GOP Conference Chairman.  By the five criteria used in this article, Boehner was clearly more supportive of high tech.  Watts voted against the H1B bill.  In fact, he was the only candidate for a Republican leadership position who did.  He did not co-sponsor the Internet Tax Freedom Bill, and he is not a member of the Internet Caucus.  Watts, like every other candidate, voted for the securities litigation reform bill.

Thomas Davis unseated John Linder to lead the National Republican Congressional Committee, which promotes election of Republicans to the House.  The vote was 130 to 77.  Linder co-sponsored the encryption bill, which Davis did not.

Tillie Fowler was picked to be Vice Chairman of the Republican Conference.

Deborah Pryce ran unopposed for re-election to her position as Secretary of the Republican Conference.

The official vote for Speaker of the House will take place on January 6.  The vote will follow party lines.  Since the Republicans hold a 223 to 212 lead in the House, Livingston is certain to be elected Speaker.

Notes: (1) Deborah Pryce did not vote on the H1B bill.  (2) Several members of the House asked to be made sponsors of the SAFE Act after the deadline for becoming an official sponsor.  The office of the lead sponsor, Bob Goodlatte, provided Tech Law Journal with a list of these members.  For the purposes of this article, they are also treated as sponsors of the SAFE Act.