Week ending April 7, 2000
ITI Pleased Vote to Occur Prior to Memorial Day
This week Speaker Hastert (R-IL) announced that the vote on permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) with China would come the week of May 22nd. ITI met with Republican and Democrat leaders in the House and urged them to schedule a vote in the spring. In addition, the group continues to meet with undecided House and Senate members, urging them to support PNTR with China.
ITI Praises Efforts to Develop a Final Bill
On Wednesday the Senate named its conferees for the digital signatures legislation. Now the full conference committee is in place, negotiations can begin to develop a final bill. ITI is hopeful that a bill, resembling that which passed in the House last year, will be the final product of the conference committee.
Pace Picks Up on Effort to Reduce Congressional Review Period
The House International Relations Committee this week considered legislation, key to the IT industry, that would reduce the current congressional review period - from 180 days to 30 days - for new regulations governing export control thresholds. The bill, HR 3680, introduced by Congressman Dreier and Congresswoman Lofgren, has been endorsed by ITI. The bill was passed unanimously at the subcommittee level and is scheduled to be voted upon by the full committee next Thursday.
In addition to activity in the House, the Senate Commerce Committee, on Tuesday, held a hearing on the Export Administration Act (EAA). There is also discussion about an amendment being offered to the Budget bill now before the Senate.
ITI Encourages Congress to Extend Moratorium
The Advisory Commission on Electronic sent their recommendations to Congress this week. While the bigger issues need to be worked out, ITI encouraged Congress to extend the current moratorium. The group also praised the Commission for recommending the repeal of the telephone excise tax and for suggesting a permanent ban on taxing access to the Internet, which ITI has been pushing since the mid-1990s.
Congress will now consider the Commission's recommendations and may act as early as this summer to extend the moratorium.
ITI Continues to Educate Policy Makers on Privacy Issue
Senate Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) is circulating a draft bill covering online privacy, "cyber-hacking," spam, critical infrastructure protection and international computer crime enforcement that he plans to introduce this week, possibly with Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT). The online privacy section would create notice, opt-out and other obligations for Web sites, to be enforced by a private right of action and civil actions by DOJ and state attorneys general.
ITI Continues to Push for International Acceptance
ITI spoke to telecommunications regulators from the former Soviet republics to encourage the use of international standards and supplier's declaration of conformity (SDoC). The group highlighted harmonization of international standards by the FCC concerning electromagnetic interference and the FCC's reliance on SDoC.
ITI is the association of leading IT companies. Its members include: 3COM; Agilent; AOL; Apple; Cisco; Compaq; Corning; Dell; Eastman Kodak; Gateway; Hewlett-Packard; IBM; Intel; Lexmark; Microsoft; Motorola; NCR; Nortel Networks, Panasonic; Pitney Bowes; SGI; Sony; StorageTek; Symbol Technologies; Tektronix; Tyco; and Unisys.