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Goodlatte Aide Makes Politics Local
by Bara Vaida
Ben Cline, the chief of staff and long-time aide to Congressional Internet Caucus co-Chairman Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, has decided to take politics head-on with a bid to replace former Virginia state House Speaker Vance Wilkins in a special election this fall.
"Public service is a part of me," Cline said when asked why he left Goodlatte's office. "Bob's been a mentor and given me good guidance and advice, but this was an opportunity for me to serve in a different way."
Wilkins, who had held his position of state delegate since 1978, was forced to resign this summer over a sexual harassment scandal. Cline, 30, said he jumped to organize Republican Party support in the district, and it appears like he will have no party challengers this weekend at an event to officially nominate him as the GOP candidate. Two Democrats, one a businessman and the other a widow of an academic, are vying for their party's nomination for the job.
Cline, who grew up in the district, said part of his motivation is to influence Virginia's budget process. The state is struggling with shrinking funds, and he said Democratic Gov. Mark Warner "wants to increase taxes and cut the wrong programs like law enforcement." In addition, during his years with Goodlatte, Cline worked on numerous high-tech issues, from encryption policy to Internet taxes, and he hopes to use that experience to bring more high-tech jobs to his district.
"Tech can be a savior for rural America," he said. "One of my main goals is to create good quality jobs so people don't move away after high school."
If Cline wins, he would be the youngest member of Virginia's General Assembly. "I have a newfound respect for my former boss. It's just an amazing process," he said. Cline added that he hopes to find a job in the Internet and telecommunications sector should he win in November because the General Assembly position is part time.
Let The Recess Fundraising Begin
Leading companies from the intellectual property and technology world joined together to raise about $15,000 for the re-election campaign of Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, on July 17. Representatives from the six leading movie studios joined with executives from Intel, Microsoft, National Semiconductor, TRW and others for a luncheon with Collins, a member of the Senate Republican High-Tech Task Force.
In other fundraising news, TechNet is helping gather support for a fundraising breakfast for Rep. Mike Honda, D-Calif., and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., on Aug. 7 in San Jose, Calif. The group also is involved in organizing a fundraising lunch for Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., in Palo Alto on Aug. 19 and a fundraising breakfast for Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., on Aug. 22.
New Managers At The FBI
The FBI has named a trio of new section chiefs to oversee records management at the crime-fighting agency.
Marie Allen, who most recently directed the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) division that oversees records disposition throughout the U.S. government, was named chief of the FBI's records maintenance and disposition. Under Allen's direction, that division reorganized into self-directed teams, eliminated a processing backlog, reduced the processing time for records schedules, and doubled the attendance at annual records conferences, the FBI said in a statement.
David Hardy was named chief of the FBI's section in charge of records related to the Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act. Previously, Hardy was the Navy's assistant judge advocate general (JAG) for civil law. He was commanding officer for the largest command in the Navy JAG Corps and for the legal analysis and policy development of all JAG civil matters.
And Michael Miller was named chief of the FBI section for records review and dissemination. Previously, Miller was director of the Modern Records Program at NARA and an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland, where he teaches classes on electronic records and records management.
The Start Of A Departure Wave?
Don Trigg, the policy director at the Commerce Department, has left to return to his native Kansas City, where he will be vice president of corporate positioning for the healthcare software company Cerner Corp. John Ackerly, currently the deputy policy director and previously the associate director at the White House National Economic Council, will replace Trigg.
Trigg worked for President Bush on the 2000 campaign trail and designed "message of the day" events. The Washington Post reports that Trigg's departure is the beginning of what is expected to be a wave of staff departures, as is typical halfway through an administration.
In other administration news, Bush announced his intent to nominate Wayne Abernathy to be assistant Treasury secretary for financial institutions. Abernathy has been with the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee since 1981 and is presently the Republican staff director. His other positions include staff director for the Securities Subcommittee and economist to both the full committee and International Finance and Monetary Policy Subcommittee.
The Senate Finance Committee, meanwhile, approved the nomination of Charlotte Lane to be a commissioner of the International Trade Commission. However, there may be a hold in the Senate on her nomination. Lane is from the steel-producing state of West Virginia, and farm-state senators want a commissioner from an agricultural area.
In addition, the Senate last week confirmed Kathie Olsen and Richard Russell to be associate directors of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Olsen is to focus on science, while Russell will focus on technology issues.
The Internet's Latest Leaders
Fred Baker has been named chairman of the Internet Society Board of Trustees. Baker, who works at Cisco Systems as a fellow and handles quality-of-service issues, said one of his goals as chairman is to increase the Internet Society's focus on public policy and education and training. Baker also was president of the Internet Engineering Task Force between 1996 and 2001, and focused on improving standards on the Internet.
Elsewhere, the Internet Security Alliance announced new leadership late last month. The newly elected officials include: Exodus Chief Security Officer William Hancock as chairman; RedSiren President and CEO Doug Goodall as vice chairman; John Shaughnessy, senior vice president of risk management at Visa USA, as vice chairman; and Tom Orlowski, vice president of information systems at the National Association of Manufacturers, as treasurer.
And Timothy Cole has been named director of Internet dispute solutions for the National Arbitration Forum, which has been selected to chair the Intellectual Property and Online Dispute Resolution Committee under the American Bar Association. Cole also serves on the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy Review Task Force that is considering whether changes are warranted in the process for resolving Internet-addressing disputes.
Toward Trustworthy Computing
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates announced the creation of the Trustworthy Computing Academic Advisory Board, which aims to develop ways to break down technical and policy barriers relating to trustworthy computing, such as security and privacy.
The members of the board will include Cornell University professor Fred Schneider, University of California at Santa Barbara professor Richard Kemmerer, University of Maryland professor Virgil Gligor, and Florida Institute of Technology professor James Whittaker.
Microsoft said the advisory board "is a natural extension of Microsoft's existing relationships."
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