Here is the story on Bill Gates speech and meetings with both Republicans and Democrats. Interesting reading.
seattletimes.com
Posted at 08:19 a.m. PDT; Monday, June 14, 1999
Now-active Gates does D.C. as contributions pave way
by Danny Westneat
Seattle Times Washington bureau
WASHINGTON - A year has passed since Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates last made a formal appearance before Congress, when he was grilled relentlessly by senators regarding his company's business tactics.
In that time, the company has poured nearly $1 million into the bank accounts of the two national political parties, an enormous increase in giving that may partly explain why senators are clamoring to meet with Gates when he arrives on Capitol Hill again this week.
Tomorrow, Gates is scheduled to testify before Congress' Joint Economic Committee as part of a summit on vital issues in the high-technology sector of the economy. It will be his first appearance before Congress since the antitrust trial began last fall.
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and IBM chief Louis Gerstner testified this morning; they'll be followed this week by other high-voltage technology CEOs, including Eric Schmidt of Novell and Scott McNealy of Sun Microsystems.
But the real action starts for the senators after Gates' planned 35-minute public testimony ends. He'll head to a private lunch with Democratic senators, then a closed meeting of a Democratic policy committee. In the afternoon, Gates will sit down with Republican leaders in a private, hourlong coffee organized by Sen. Slade Gorton, R-Wash.
Gorton particularly has been urging his Republican colleagues to rally to Microsoft's side in the company's antitrust battle with the federal government. Gorton says it's good policy for Republicans to oppose government intervention in the software business, and good politics for Republicans to come down on the side of the richest company in the history of the world.
In the last year, Microsoft has rocketed onto the top 20 list of givers of "soft money," large, mostly unregulated contributions that the political parties can use to promote their causes. In the last election cycle, Microsoft increased its giving by 800 percent over the 1995-96 election, for the first time moving past Boeing to become the top money giver from Washington state. Most of these contributions went to Republicans.
Microsoft still lags about $1 million behind the top givers in the nation, such as Philip Morris and several unions. But it is partly this room for improvement that has heightened the anticipation for Gates' visit this week.
On Wednesday, Gates will join a group of high-tech execs to lobby Congress. And then he will appear with Los Angeles Lakers star Shaquille O'Neal at a Washington, D.C., Boys and Girls Club to unveil a guide for keeping children safe when they surf the Internet.
Danny Westneat's phone-message number is 206-464-2772. His e-mail address is: dwestneat@seattletimes.com
Copyright © 1999 Seattle Times Company
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