Analysis of Vote on E-Signatures Bill

(November 2, 1999) The House vote on the electronic signatures bill followed party lines with all but three Republicans voting for the bill, and all but 51 Democrats voting against the bill. Most of the Democrats who voted for the bill represent states that are traditionally supportive of high tech, including the west coast states, Virginia, and Texas.

HR 1714, a bill which provides for the acceptance of electronic contracts in interstate commerce, was rejected by a vote of 234 to 122. Since it was considered under a suspension of the rules, a procedure usually used to fast track non controversial bills, a two thirds vote was required. Hence, it narrowly failed.

Also, since the vote took place on a Monday, many Representatives were still their districts. 77 members missed the vote.

The bill was defeated, due to opposition from Democrats. Of the 170 Democrats who voted, 51 voted for the bill, and 119 voted against the bill. Of the 186 Republicans who voted, 183 voted for the bill, and 3 voted against.

There was significant variation in voting turnout and breakdown by region of the country. West Coast Representatives turned out almost unanimously, and voted overwhelmingly for the bill. Many southern Democrats also broke ranks and voted for the bill.

Of the 65 Representatives from the west coast states of California, Oregon, and Washington, only one missed the vote, 44 voted for the bill, and only 20 voted against.

The 29 West coast Republicans all turned out and voted unanimously for the bill.

11 of 27 California Democrats voted yes. 3 of 4 Oregon Democrats voted yes. However, in Washington state only one Democrat voted yes, Rep. Jay Inslee, whose Seattle area district includes Microsoft.

In California, the Silicon Valley area delegation all voted for the bill: Tom Campbell (R), Zoe Lofgren (D), Anna Eshoo (D), and Ellen Tauscher (D). The other California Democrats to vote for the bill were Nancy Pelosi (San Francisco), Loretta Sanchez (Garden Grove), Grace Napolitano (Whittier), Gary Condit (Merced), Lois Capps (Santa Barbara/San Lius Obispo), Brad Sherman (Sherman Oaks), Mike Thompson (Northern California), and Cal Dooley (Visalia).

Rep. Howard Berman (Los Angeles) led the opposition to the Bliley bill when it was being considered by the House Judiciary Committee.

The bill also received strong support from Virginia. Northern Virginia is the site of many high tech companies. Also, the state delegation in Congress, Gov. Gilmore, and the state legislature have all sought legislation which is favorable to the development of electronic commerce. The state delegation, which is made up of 5 Republicans and 6 Democrats, voted 10 to 1 for the bill.

Similarly, Texas, which has major concentrations of high tech companies in the Austin, Dallas, and Houston areas, voted overwhelmingly for the bill. 6 Democrats from Texas voted yes.

Likewise, in North Carolina, the two Democratic Representatives whose districts include the research triangle, and the residences of many of its workers, Rep. Etheridge and Rep. Price, voted yes.

Of the 51 Democrats who voted for the bill, 15 came from the three west coast states, 20 came from southern states, and only 16 came from the rest of the country.

The Massachusetts delegation, has been pro high tech in the past, in part because of the concentration of high tech companies in the Boston area. However, not one of the 10 member delegation, all of whom are Democrats, voted for the bill. 7 voted no. 3 did not vote. Rep. Ed Markey was one of the leaders of the opposition during the floor debate.

After the vote, some Representatives commented on the partisan breakdown. Rep. Tom Bliley (R-VA) and Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA) issued a statement:

"It is truly unfortunate that the Clinton Administration and many House Democrats decided to put partisan politics over supporting a good, pro-technology bill last night. Electronic signatures are key to growing the new digital economy, so it is important that Congress acts soon."

"By delaying this bill, the Clinton Administration and Congressional Democrats are preventing Americans from keeping pace with the Information Age. If they truly want to spur the growth of electronic commerce, they should work with us to allow consumers to use electronic signatures."

"E-SIGN preserves existing consumer protection laws; if a consumer is not comfortable continuing a transaction online, that consumer is free to choose traditional paper-based transactions. But just as importantly, the bill gives citizens and businesses the ability to conduct transactions in cyberspace with an assurance of legal validity."

Rep. Bliley is the sponsor of HR 1714, and the Chairman of the House Commerce Committee, which revised and approved the bill.

	Rep. Richard Gephardt

Rep. Richard Gephardt (D-MO), the Minority Leader, also issued a statement:

"Yesterday's vote was a signal that the Republican majority did not do their job in making sure that Democrats had a full opportunity to review the language of a bill that will have a major impact on electronic commerce. It was not the death knell for digital signatures legislation in this session of Congress."

"This issue is too important to fall prey to the kind of reckless partisan games played by the majority yesterday. Any bill brought up on the suspension calendar requires a two-thirds vote -- and obviously needs full bipartisan agreement for passage. The majority did not make a meaningful effort to do so, resulting in this temporary setback."

"I remain fully committed towards working to ensure that a digital signatures bill will be enacted into law this year, and encourage my Republican colleagues to sit down with ranking Democrats to come up with a bill that addresses their concerns in a satisfactory way."