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March 29, 2000, Wednesday, Late Edition -
Final
SECTION: Section A; Page 18; Column
1; National Desk
LENGTH: 788 words
HEADLINE: Gephardt Courts the Technology Industry
BYLINE: By LIZETTE ALVAREZ
DATELINE: WASHINGTON, March 28
BODY:
With the political loyalties of the
high-technology community still up for grabs, Representative Richard A.
Gephardt, the House Democratic leader, intensified his courtship of the industry
today by embracing pieces of its legislative wish list.
But, in his
first major policy address on high-technology issues, Mr. Gephardt, of Missouri,
glossed over the issue that industry executives and lobbyists care most about
this year and that could most hurt Democrats: establishing permanent, normal
trade relations with China.
A number of Democrats oppose granting China
normal trade relations, despite President Clinton's strong backing, because of
labor union opposition to the agreement and the country's poor human rights
record. Mr. Gephardt and other Democratic leaders have said they would vote
against a China bill that did not address concerns over the environment,
workers' rights and human rights.
"The most important vote of this
decade is going to be China because it clearly translates into investment, new
markets, jobs," said Dave McCurdy, a former House Democrat who is the president
of the Electronic Industries Alliance, a major high-technology trade group. "The
vote on China is going to be a dividing line. For those who support China, the
business community has an obligation to recognize that vote and support the
people who vote for it."
House Republican leaders, all of whom support
the China deal, are already trying to gin-up support among high-technology
industry executives by labeling Democrats as foes of free trade.
"I'm
afraid he still doesn't get it," Representative Dick Armey of Texas, the House
majority leader, said about Mr. Gephardt. "In his speech today, he was silent on
trade."
"We'll all be watching to see just how tech-friendly this new
Dick Gephardt is," Mr. Armey said, adding that Mr. Gephardt voted with the
industry only 50 percent of the time last year, according to figures compiled by
the Information Technology Industry Council.
Mr. Gephardt said Democrats
were working to draw up an alternative China bill that a majority of the party
in the House could support without alienating Republicans. And he pointed out,
after his speech, that the China vote was problematic for both parties, since
several Republicans also oppose the agreement. .
"If both parties are
split, it has interacting political consequences in both parties," Mr. Gephardt
said. "So you've got to stop worrying about the politics and just try to figure
out the issue and do what you think is right."
While Mr. Gephardt
tiptoed around trade in his speech today, he put forward an ambitious agenda on
a roster of other issues that high-technology companies hold dear. And he
portrayed himself, not as a traditional, old-style Democrat, a label many apply
to Mr. Gephardt, but as a lawmaker who understood the universal principles of
the technology revolution and could apply them if he were to become the next
speaker of the House.
In this vein, Mr. Gephardt underscored his own
decision to co-sponsor a bill to expand the number of work visas for immigrants
with high-technology skills, legislation the labor unions oppose and Mr.
Gephardt voted against last time around.
"It is sheer hubris to claim
that one party or the other in America is the technology party," he told the
group of assembled Northern Virginia high-technology representatives. "The
government is not the leader -- nor should it be. But the government, by
pursuing wise, prudent politics has the ability to help keep this technology
revolution on track."
In his speech, the Democratic leader endorsed
several initiatives, many of them originally pushed by Republicans. He called
for a three-year sales tax moratorium on the
Internet, until a final solution could be agreed upon. The
Internet industry would like to see no taxes on electronic commerce.
Mr.
Gephardt also endorsed the elimination of certain taxes, including the
telecommunications excise tax and taxes on Internet access and transmission. And
he called for a permanent tax credit on high-technology research and
development.
For months now, Mr. Gephardt, prodded by a group of
technology friendly moderate Democrats who call themselves New Democrats, has
been working to solidify his relationship with high-technology executives and
embrace many of the issues important to them.
Mr. Gephardt has said he
would not lobby House Democrats to vote against the China bill, which he has
done on other trade bills. His No. 2, Representative David E. Bonior of
Michigan, has taken on that task.
"The bottom line is China,"
Representative James P. Moran, Democrat of Virginia, said, "and I think Dick is
taking the Democratic caucus in that direction."
http://www.nytimes.com
GRAPHIC: Photo: Richard
A. Gephardt, the House Democratic leader, spoke yesterday to a group of
high-technology leaders on new policies for 2000 and beyond. (Susana Raab for
The New York Times)
LOAD-DATE: March 29, 2000 
