FC: Tom Bliley retiring from Congress -- and it's about time

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,34893,00.html

                       Declan's Capitol Letters
                       by Declan McCullagh (declan () wired com)
                       3:00 a.m. 11.Mar.2000 PST

                       If a long career as a prudish and partisan
                       Republican is grounds for praise, Virginia
                       Congressman Tom Bliley ought to be
                       canonized.

                       At least that's what trade associations
                       seemed to think after the powerful
                       chairman of the House Commerce
                       Committee said this week that he would
                       retire in 2000.

                       "Bliley has been a champion of the
                       high-tech community, and we will miss his
                       leadership and support," said Robert
                       Holleyman, president of the Business
                       Software Alliance. "We thank Chairman
                       Bliley for his support and wish him the
                       best."

                       It's true that back in 1996, Bliley did push
                       forward securities-reform litigation that
                       Silicon Valley loved and Democrats
                       loathed. In fact, it led to a veto and then
                       the first veto override of Bill Clinton's
                       presidency. And Bliley did back a
                       moratorium on Internet taxes.

                       But what the BSA failed to say is that
                       while Bliley, 68, has kowtowed to
                       corporations since his election to the
                       House in 1980 -- you can place good
                       odds on him cashing in now with a
                       lucrative lobbying job -- he's been just as
                       frequently anti-Internet user.

                       Some examples: Bliley not only defended
                       his support for an anti-erotica law that a
                       federal judge has declared
                       unconstitutional, but last year he also
                       asked an appeals court to overturn that
                       decision. He also suggested making it a
                       crime to publish information about
                       chemical plant safety on the Net.

                       The defendants in the two DVD lawsuits
                       brought by Motion Picture Association of
                       America member companies have Bliley to
                       thank: He, along with the chairman of the
                       House Judiciary Committee, supported the
                       Digital Millennium Copyright Act that made
                       the cases possible.

                       Besides, Bliley isn't leaving just because
                       he wants someone else to have a turn.
                       Nope. House Republican rules adopted in
                       1995 limit how long a legislator can be
                       chairman of a committee, and Bliley's time
                       is up.

                       [...remainder snipped...]

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