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Rep. Boucher Gets New Counsel
by Randy Barrett
Amy Levine has joined Rep. Rick Boucher as legislative counsel for intellectual property issues.
Levine comes to Capitol Hill from the Covington & Burling law firm. It is not her first time working on the Hill. Before attending Yale University law school in the 1990s, Levine did a stint with then-Sen. J. Bennett Johnston, D-La., who retired in 1997.
"I had worked on the Hill before and knew that I liked it," Levine said. "It was too good an opportunity to pass up."
The decision to go to work for Boucher, D-Va., was less about money and more about being in the political mix, Levine said. Covington paid a lot more, but after working in the private sector for six years, she said she found working on Capitol Hill more to her liking. "I like helping decision-makers make policy," Levine said.
She is replacing Hillary Brill, who left Boucher's office last year and now works for the eBay online auction site as its Washington counsel.
In other Hill news, the House Science Committee has hired Roselee Roberts as a professional staff member. Roberts comes from Boeing, where she was director of legislative affairs, and will work on the Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee. Incoming subcommittee Chairman Ken Calvert, R-Calif., said he will "rely on her expertise and sound judgment."
Roberts spent 17 years at Boeing and was involved with the International Space Station, the space-shuttle program, satellites and aeronautical research. Before joining Boeing, Roberts spent nine years as a staffer for then-Rep. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., who was elected to the Senate in 2000. She also has held posts at the White House Office of Management and Budget and Transportation Department.
Roberts said she is happy to be back on Capitol Hill. "I love to do the policy stuff, and Ken Calvert is a great guy to work for," she said. And there is an added bonus: Because she already has several years of experience as a federal employee, in a few more, Roberts will be eligible for a federal pension, she said.
Three Tech Firms Hire New Lobbyists
Bruce Mehlman and David Castagnatti have registered to lobby for the Yahoo Internet firm on "privacy, taxation and issues related to electronic commerce," according to disclosure filings with the House and Senate. Washington Advocacy Group also signed up to represent the company on e-commerce issues.
DCI Group, meanwhile, registered to lobby for Blackboard, which makes education software, to represent the company on "appropriations for online learning capabilities," on efforts to reauthorize the statute governing vocational and technical education, and on the reauthorization of the 2002 educational standards law.
And the advertising-metrics company Tacoda Systems has retained Colling Murphy Swift Hynes Selfridge to lobby on a House bill, H.R. 29, that targets secretly installed computer "spyware." A House committee is scheduled to debate the measure Wednesday.
Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti also has hired former Homeland Security Department official Stewart Verdery. Verdery was formerly the department's assistant secretary for border and transportation security.
"He's well-known and well-respected in the tech community," said Mehlman. Verdery's begins work March 28. He will be a principal in the firm.
While at the department, he ran an agency focused on cargo and trade policy, transportation security policy, and immigration policy. Verdery's management plate included the immigrant-tracking program known as US-VISIT, airline-passenger screening, cargo and container security, and visa security.
Before joining the department, he was the senior legislative counsel for the government affairs and public policy office of Vivendi Universal from 2002 to 2003. He also served as general counsel to then-Senate Assistant Majority Leader Don Nickles R-Okla., from 1998 until 2002.
Music Industry Group Adds Two New Faces
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announced last week that Paige Ralston and Jenni Engebretsen have joined the music industry group's communications department.
Ralston arrives as director for strategic communications. She was formerly a deputy press secretary for House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., where she handled press events. Earlier in her career, Ralston was an anchor for the conservative Political NewsTalk Network.
Engebretsen replaces Jonathan Lamy as communications director. Lamy will remain at RIAA as vice president of the communications department.
Engebretsen most recently was a regional communications director for 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry. Before that, she served as a press secretary to the presidential campaign of Democrat John Edwards before Kerry picked Edwards as a running mate.
Engebretsen also worked in the communications offices of Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and in the White House press office during the Clinton administration.
New Acting Chief At FCC Bureau
Jay Keithley has been named acting chief of the FCC's Consumer and Government Affairs Bureau. He will replace Dane Snowden on March 11.
Keithley was formerly the deputy chief for policy of the bureau. FCC Chairman Michael Powell said the division is "very fortunate" to have such an experienced hand take command.
Before working at the FCC, Keithley was director of government relations and regulatory counsel at the wireless lobbying group PCIA. Earlier in his career, he served as vice president for regulatory affairs at Sprint.
Media Nonprofit Gets New Analyst
Frannie Wellings has joined FreePress.net to oversee policy analysis. Wellings was formerly a policy fellow at the Electronic Privacy Information Center.
In her new post, Wellings will work on media-reform issues with other public-interest groups. She currently serves on the executive committee of the non-commercial constituency of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and will serve on the ICANN Nominating Committee of 2005.
Elsewhere, David Sohn and Nancy Libin have joined the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT). Sohn will be handling copyright issues, and Libin will hold forth on privacy. Sohn was a staffer to Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Libin joins CDT after working for the Kerry campaign.
Lara Flint, meanwhile, is leaving as CDT's legislative counsel to join the minority staff of the Senate Judiciary Committee. She will be working closely with Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis., CDT Associate Director Ari Schwartz said.
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