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Ackil Steers Tech Policy For Democrats
by Bara Vaida
Josh Ackil has been named the associate director of the Senate Democratic Steering Committee and will handle high-tech outreach for Senate Democrats. Ackil replaces Eric Olson, who left the post in May to become chief of staff to Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif.
Ackil spent the past six months working for the lobbying firm Griffin, Johnson, Dover & Stewart. In the two years before that, he was the legislative affairs and staff director at the White House under former President Clinton. Ackil also spent four years working for House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt, D-Mo.
Most of Ackil's professional experience has focused on issues other than tech policy, though he was part of the White House team that worked with House Democrats to pass permanent normal trade relations with China last year.
Jodi Sakol is the steering committee's new executive director. She was a senior communications adviser to Al Gore's 2000 presidential campaign.
Gore 'Just Visiting' Techies
Gore, meanwhile, has scheduled a Wednesday meeting with supporters and former staff in San Francisco, including high-tech officials. Donnie Fowler, who is the Democratic political strategist for TechNet and a former Gore campaign adviser, is helping to organize the meeting and confirmed that TechNet cofounder John Doerr will attend.
"There is nothing to be read into this," Fowler said. "He's just visiting with friends and supporters. It's not a campaign swing."
During his visit, Gore is attending a few fundraisers to help raise money for Democrats running in 2002 and to help fund his campaign training program for young people. David Hayden, Critical Path's executive chairman and founder, is scheduled to host Wednesday's event.
In other TechNet news, Reps. Eshoo and Zoe Lofgren, both California Democrats, hosted a reception Aug. 17 for Rep. John Larson, D-Conn. Larson is the co-chairman of the House Digital Divide Caucus. And on Aug. 22, TechNet is co-hosting a forum in San Jose to address the delay problems at San Francisco International Airport.
National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Bill Frist, R-Tenn., also will visit the Bay area Aug. 28. And Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill has scheduled a meeting with tech officials in Silicon Valley for Sept. 6.
Bush Taps Academic For NIST Post
President Bush said he intends to nominate Arden Bement as director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the agency that sets computer and encryption standards, among other policy priorities.
Bennett has been at Purdue University since 1993, first as a professor of engineering and director of the Midwest Superconductivity Consortium and then as a professor of nuclear engineering and head of Purdue's School of Nuclear Engineering. He was with TRW Inc. as the company's vice president for technical resources from 1980 to 1988, and then as vice president for science and technology from 1988 to 1993.
Bush also said he intends to nominate Richard Clarida to be assistant Treasury secretary for economic policy. He is presently the chairman of the Department of Economics at Columbia University and has been a professor at Columbia since 1988. Previously, he served on former President Reagan's Council of Economic Advisors.
Techies Have Taxing Issues On Their Minds
Rep. Wally Herger, R-Calif., met with members of the electronics trade group AeA in Santa Clara, Calif., to discuss Internet taxes, the alternative minimum tax and the research and development tax credit. Tax specialists from Microsoft, Solectron, Exodus, and Deloitte & Touche emphasized the impact of tax issues on the high-tech economy.
"I don't think I have ever received more letters than when there were rumors that the government would start taxing the Internet," Herger said, according to an AeA news release. Herger is a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, chairman of its Human Resources Subcommittee and serves on its Trade Subcommittee.
Keeping The Lines Of Communication Open
Angela De Rocha has been named the communications director of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. Previously, De Rocha was the deputy communications director and senior writer for Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, and a journalist before that.
In other public relations news, John Emra, who handled press for SBC Communications at Austin-based Public Strategies, is leaving to work directly for SBC in Connecticut. Michael Meroney will replace Emra on the SBC account. "I'll be overseeing the company's internal and external lobbying efforts on the local and state levels," Emra wrote in an e-mail to colleagues.
Allison Remsen, the press secretary to House Minority Whip David Bonior, D-Mich., is joining the U.S. Telecom Association, the group that represents the regional Bell operating companies. In addition to handling Bonior's press duties, Remsen also worked on telecom issues for him. Previously, she worked for the National Cable Television Association.
You've Got Mail ... In The United Kingdom
Karen Thomson has been named the CEO of America Online UK. The announcement continues a reorganization begun last autumn that has positioned AOL UK for continued growth by placing senior managers in charge of key operating functions, the company said in a statement.
Thomson will continue to oversee the management and marketing of the company's three UK brands -- AOL, CompuServe and Netscape Online -- with the expanded senior management team reporting to her. Thomson served as the executive vice president of marketing for AOL Europe and as the marketing director for AOL UK from 1996 through 1999.
Honda's Internet Outreach Efforts
Rep. Mike Honda, D-Calif., has kept busy during the August break. Last week, he joined Hewlett-Packard scientists to see a demonstration of the company's "World E-inclusion" program, which is designed to provide rural and underserved areas with Internet access through solar-powered satellite technology.
"By using energy-efficient, cutting-edge technologies, we can help to level the digital playing field while creating new markets for Silicon Valley companies," Honda said in a statement.
Hewlett-Packard, AOL Time Warner and other corporate partners are supporting the Peace Corps' Peace Packs initiative to provide information technology to help underserved communities around the world. Honda served in the Peace Corps from 1965 to 1967.
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