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The Courting Of Silicon Valley
by Bara Vaida
President Bush is scheduled to travel to the heart of Silicon Valley on Friday to meet with leaders in the high-tech industry and give a speech about the important role that the industry played in the war in Iraq and is playing in the administration's efforts to boost homeland security.
Margaret Lauderback, vice president of Republican outreach for the lobbying group TechNet, said the president's speech in Santa Clara, Calif., also is likely to be "sensitive to the high unemployment rate" in the region and note the importance of congressional passage of Bush's economic growth package, which emphasizes tax cuts. The unemployment rate is 8.5 percent in San Jose, the largest city in Silicon Valley, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Bush's meeting with tech leaders is expected to occur at an as-yet unnamed company headquarters, Lauderback said.
His visit also comes after similar trips to Silicon Valley in the first four months of the year by candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination who have criticized Bush's economic plan and offered their own policy ideas to high-tech leaders. The San Francisco Bay area is a stronghold of support for the Democratic Party, but a large number of prominent high-tech leaders from Silicon Valley supported Bush in the 2000 election cycle.
Over the two week congressional recess, several lawmakers visited area. They included: Sens. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M.; Charles Grassley, R-Iowa; Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., Patty Murray, D-Wash.; and Ron Wyden, D-Ore.; and Reps. Tom Davis, R-Va., and Lamar Smith, R-Texas.
John Hassell, director of federal and state government affairs for Hewlett-Packard, said high-tech executives told all the lawmakers they support a bill, H.R. 767, that would provide temporary tax relief to companies that return their international profits back to the U.S. for capital investment. "The members also all asked us how the economy was, and we all said it stinks," he said.
Qorvis Hires Two Tech Veterans
Qorvis Communications has expanded the size of its staff by two with the hires of Doug Koelemay and Irwin Greenstein.
Koelemay comes to the public affairs company from Williams Mullen Strategies, where he has been executive vice president and chief policy officer. There he designed policy development, lobbying and public communications programs for clients ranging from America Online to Motorola. Before that, Koelemay was vice president of public affairs for the Northern Virginia Technology Council. "Douglas Koelemay is virtually a household name in the Washington technology region," boasted Doug Poretz, a partner at Qorvis.
Greenstein joins Qorvis from Plesk, a provider of data-center automation services. Before that, he spent 15 years in Silicon Valley, where he launched companies in the communications, e-business and entertainment sectors.
Qorvis also is planning the rollout of a new service called StreetBuzz that will tie grassroots campaign efforts with the firm's specialty in technology public relations, Poretz said in an e-mail to colleagues.
Bush Announces Nomination, Appointments
Bush said he intends to nominate Christopher Wray to be an assistant attorney general of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, which includes the section on computer crimes and intellectual property.
Currently, Wray serves as principal associate deputy attorney general for Justice. He previously served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the northern district of Georgia and was a litigation associate for the law firm of King & Spalding. He also served as a law clerk for Judge J. Michael Luttig of the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals.
In addition, Bush said he intends to appoint four men, including Kevin Rollins, to two-year terms on the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations. Rollins is the president and chief operating officer of Dell Computer.
In other administration news, Stewart Verdery has left Vivendi Universal after a year of working on intellectual property and other issues affecting the entertainment industry. He joined the Homeland Security Department as a full-time senior adviser until the Senate has voted on his nomination to be the department's assistant secretary for policy and planning at the border and transportation security directorate.
SEC Hires Managers To Help Chairman
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced a trio of new staff appointments, including Patrick Von Bargen as managing executive for policy and staff.
Bargen will assist SEC Chairman William Donaldson with enforcement of policies, regulations, rules and procedures governing markets and issuers, and he will be Donaldson's primary liaison with the other commissioners' offices. Previously, Von Bargen was the executive director of the National Center for Regional Innovation and Competitiveness and vice president of the Council on Competitiveness.
Peter Derby has been named managing executive for operations and will assist Donaldson with administrative, operational and management issues. He previously participated in the founding of DialogBank, a private bank in Russia, and Troika Dialog, a Russian investment firm.
And Laura Cox was named managing executive for external affairs, where she will assist Donaldson with the oversight of the SEC's legislative affairs, public and intergovernmental affairs and investor education. She currently works at the Treasury Department and was the vice president for strategic policy communications, government and regulatory affairs at Instinet.
Anti-Spam Group Hires Executive Director
The anti-spam group SpamCon Foundation has appointed Andrew Barrett as executive director to replace Daniel Birchall, who has served in the job since March 2002 and will remain an adviser.
Most recently Barrett was an adviser and media relations representative for the organization. Before that, he was the media coordinator for the Forum for Responsible and Ethical E-mail and advised Maryland lawmakers as they crafted an anti-spam initiative. Barrett said he also was involved in drafting federal anti-spam legislation during the 106th Congress. In addition, he served as the senior director of internal operations for Mail-Abuse Prevention System.
SpamCon's other officers are: Laura Atkins, president; Ted Gavin, treasurer; and founder Tom Geller, secretary. Online marketer and columnist Adam Boettiger joined the board this month.
Rep. Issa Fights To Recall California Governor
Multimillionaire Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif. is planning to devote himself personally and financially to a recall campaign against California Democratic Gov. Gray Davis and announced his interest in replacing him, the Sacramento Bee reported.
"Most people assumed I'd announce I'd be running for Senate, but I think for the people of California this is more important," the Bee reported Issa as saying. "I realized the people leading the recall didn't have the organization to get it done and that if I waited, hoping that someday someone was going to do it, it wasn't going to get done."
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