Republican Senators Accuse Democrats of Quashing E-Signatures Bill

(October 1, 1999) Sen. Abraham, the sponsor of S 761, a bill that would provide for the acceptance of electronic signatures in interstate commerce, and other Republican Senators, wrote to Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle on September 29 asking "that you and your Democratic colleagues allow this legislation to move forward."

S 761, the Millennium Digital Commerce Act, provides that "A contract relating to an interstate transaction shall not be denied legal effect solely because an electronic signature or electronic record was used in its formation." S 761 RS was approved by the Senate Commerce Committee in June. Similar legislation was approved by the House Commerce Committee in August.

Meanwhile, the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL) completed its drafting of the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA) last summer. California has already adopted it, and many other states are moving quickly to adopt it. S 761 would not preempt these state statutes. Rather, it would provide for the validity of electronic signatures in commerce for the several years that it will take the 50 states to adopt the UETA.

Sen. Spencer Abraham (R-MI)

The letter was signed by Sen. Spencer Abraham (R-MI), Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS), Sen. Bob Bennett (R-UT), and Sen. Bill Frist (R-TN). The letter states that "after four weeks of negotiations with the minority, the sponsors of this legislation have agreed to a compromise version of the bill. With this agreement, the Senate should be able to pass this bill easily."

Sen. Abraham, Sen. Pat Leahy (D-VT), and others have negotiated a new version of the bill, to be offered as a substitute. It also addresses consumer protection issues.

The letter to Sen. Daschle continued: "Nevertheless, some of our Democratic colleagues insist on attaching non-germaine issues to this vital e-commerce bill. The Democratic minority, which claims to promote electronic commerce, is instead quashing this electronic signatures bill."

The letter concluded: "Given the overwhelming support for this legislation, we find our Democratic colleagues' efforts to thwart passage of S. 761 surprising and bewildering. We therefore urge your cooperation in moving forward this important legislation as we work to improve the environment for electronic commerce in the 21st century."