"We don't need to be at the chow line anymore," said Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura, I, drawing a parallel between standing in line for food in the military and Congress waiting to grant permanent normal trade relations status to China. At a Commerce Department press conference, Commerce Secretary William Daley indicated that Ventura would be a good spokesman on the issue because he "speaks in a direct, frank way about the issues." The next day, Daley referred to the "China plan" as "the most aggressive plan ever mounted using all trade agencies in the government." Speaking at the 20th anniversary celebration of department's Commercial Service and the launch of its new Web site, Daley said that if people wondered why he wasn't spending as much time at the Department it was because he was spending more time on the Hill handling PNTR issues. "We’re making good progress, but it is very difficult," he said.

     Two former Senate committee staffers are capitalizing on their tech-know by going into business with each other. Chris Casey and Jeremy Dorin created CaseyDorin, an Internet production company, which aims to help Democratic politicians use the Internet to their advantage. During the day, the pair worked for the Senate Democratic Technology and Communications Committee, Casey was a technology adviser and Dorin was a computer specialist. At night, they were moonlighting as Internet consultants for private clients. The campaigns of Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-MA, and New York senatorial candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton were among the first clients of CaseyDorin.

     Linux sensation and Red Hat co-founder Bob Young dropped by the Senate last week to talk to eight Democratic senators at an hour-long meeting hosted by John Kerry, D-MA, and John Edwards, D-IL. Young defined Linux for the senators and explained the benefits of open-source software to the industry. He also impressed upon the senators the importance of patent protection reform and improving K-12 education, as well as increasing federal research and development funding at the university-level. Kerry is co-chair of the Senate Democrat High-Tech Working Group, along with Minority Whip Harry Reid, D-NV.

     Antilla Trotter has joined Washington-based law firm Sher & Blackwell, where he will be handling several issues, including telecommunications. No stranger to the world of telecom, Trotter spent two years at eGlobe, a telecommunications carrier, where he negotiated carrier agreements. He was also a staff member at the Senate Commerce Telecommunications and Finance Subcommittee. In addition to his new post as an associate and lobbyist at Sher & Blackwell, Trotter will continue to occasionally host The Quiet Storm, an evening radio show featuring love songs on Washington's WHUR-FM.

     "Yet another policy guy starts [a] Web venture," Wayne Crews wrote in an e-mail about his new Web site Hyperfamily.com. Crews previously worked on the Hill as a staffer for Sen. Phil Gramm, R-TX, and currently is director of competition and regulation policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. Crews is billing the site as a one-stop "sortal" that provides a range of information for busy families. "Hyperfamily was started by a father of three tired of finding, losing and searching again for crucial resources on the Web — that handful of sites among millions that can make life easier for a rowdy household. Who's got that kind of time?" the Web site reads. "Portals didn't seem to do the job: most were and are a mess, with little distinction between trivial and crucial content, overly bloated with random and mediocre proprietary information."

     Sharon Ringley has swapped her press secretary duties at the office of Rep. Rick Boucher's office to take on high-tech issues. Ringley has been with the office for four years and handles international relations, Boucher's work on the Energy and Power Subcommittee and now telecommunications and high-tech issues. As a legislative assistant, Laura Vaught covered appropriations, agriculture and transportation issues. Vaught has assumed the press secretary duties.

- by Jessica Smith