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More Lobbying Muscle At Verizon
by Randy Barrett
Robert Fisher has been appointed vice president of federal government affairs at Verizon Communications. He will be in charge of lobbying senators, said the company.
Fisher previously was a lobbyist with Clear Channel Communications. Earlier in his career, he did a tour as a staffer for the Senate Commerce Committee and worked closely with its then-chairman, John McCain, R-Ariz.
After helping Clear Channel establish a Washington office and working with the company through the firestorm over how to change the limits on media ownership, Fisher said he welcomes the opportunity to work for a telecommunications company. "Verizon is a great company and Tom Tauke [the senior vice president for public policy] has one of the best reputations in Washington, D.C.," Fisher said.
He said he is eager to get into the debate over rewriting the 1996 Telecommunications Act. "The Bells are in an interesting position; they want to compete in video market," Fisher said. "I love the tech world."
He also loves golf. Maybe that is an understatement. "I woke up every single morning to watch the British Open this weekend," Fisher said. Remember, play at the Open, which Tiger Woods won by five strokes, started each day at about 2 a.m. EST.
Not impressed? On his wedding day, Fisher played a round of golf at 8 a.m., took a shower and then said "I do." "I play as much as my wife allows me," he said.
Occasionally, Fisher hits the links with his successor at Clear Channel, Dan Dukes. Dukes followed the well-worn route into lobbying from Capitol Hill, where he spent seven years working as Republican floor assistant and in the Republican Cloak Room.
The Mississippi native's drawl ebbs and flows as he enthuses about his new job. "There are so many issues that impact industry," he said. "[I like] being a part of the changes that are going on."
Dukes also is a boot-strapping kind of guy, a trait indicated by his first automobile -- the make of which he cannot remember because it burst into flames two weeks after he bought it. "My parents were big on 'you buy your own car,' " Duke said. Did the unexpected incineration spur them into helping him buy a better ride? Nope. "They had no sympathy whatsoever," he said.
Harsh, but perhaps good training for a tough town.
A Change Of Tune On Wiretapping?
Last week, President Bush nominated technology lawyer Stewart Baker as assistant secretary of homeland security policy.
A closer look at Baker's background shows he spent a good deal of time representing Internet service providers in their efforts to gain exemption from the requirements of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA). The law requires communications providers to provide gear and help police arrange wiretaps. Ultimately, the FCC decided CALEA should be applied to the Internet -- and to Internet-based telephone calls.
"What that does for innovation in the Internet telecom market is disastrous," Baker told National Journal's Technology Daily last September.
Baker said he is now officially under the "cone of silence" required of presidential nominees and cannot comment, but he presumably will hum a different tune about wiretaps if confirmed for the job at the Homeland Security Department. Doing so should not be that hard, as Baker did serve as general counsel for the National Security Agency earlier in his career.
Before that, Baker was a law clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens. Baker received his bachelor's degree from Brown University and his law degree from the University of California at Los Angeles.
More New Faces At Homeland Security
President Bush has nominated Tracy Henke of Missouri to be executive director of Homeland Security's Office of State and Local Government Coordination and Preparedness. Henke is currently deputy associate attorney general at the Justice Department.
Before joining Justice, Henke served as senior policy adviser to Sen. Christopher (Kit) Bond, R-Mo. She received her bachelor's degree from the University of Missouri at Columbia.
Jeffrey Runge, meanwhile is set to move to Homeland Security in August to become chief medical officer. Currently the administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, he will oversee bioterrorism policy in his new job.
"Jeff has been a bold advocate and tireless proponent of improved vehicle and highway safety the last four years," Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said in a statement. "We are all a little bit safer because of his dedication to the safety cause."
In other nomination news, Patricia Herbold has been tapped by the White House as the next ambassador to Singapore. Herbold is a former King County Washington Republican chairwoman and a lawyer. Her claim to fame in the tech community is being married to Bob Herbold, a former chief operating officer of Microsoft.
Old Hill Hand Does The Lobby Thing
After more than 30 years as a Capitol Hill staffer, Carole McGuire has joined Lewis-Burke and Associates as a lobbyist.
Her new gig will be to help universities snag federal money for research projects. She leaves behind the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, where she served as deputy staff director to Chairman Pete Domenici, R-N.M.
Before joining the Energy and Natural Resources staff, McGuire worked at the Senate Budget Committee. She holds a bachelor's degree from Western Washington State College.
New Role For Media Analyst
Celebrated media analyst Tom Wolzien is leaving the research firm Sanford Bernstein after 14 years in order to start his own consultancy, Wolzien LLC, to help companies manage the digital transition.
Wolzien, a former television journalist and executive for NBC, told Broadcasting & Cable magazine that he made some good calls during his career as an industry analyst. "Sometimes my industry views came to pass in a year, sometimes they took a decade to play out," he said.
Quote Of The Week
"Innovation means you get to piss off the management."
-- Michael Zyda, director of the GamePipe Laboratory at the University of Southern California, speaking last week at the High-Performance Computing Users Conference.
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