Through the wonders of Factiva, look what I found: a story entitled, "ITAA's PAC Plans To Feed House Speaker Hastert." Check it out:
ITAA's PAC Plans To Feed House Speaker Hastert
Robert MacMillan, Newsbytes
358 words
27 April 1999
Newsbytes News Network
English
(c) 1999 Newsbytes News NetworkWASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1999 APR 27 (NB). There's only one good way to keep your head above tricky legal water in Washington, D.C., and that's to publicize it when you plan to try to raise a wad of cash for your favorite public official. That's the tack the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) is taking. The high-tech lobbying group today said its political action committee (PAC), known as NetPAC, will hold a fundraiser dinner for Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, R-Ill.
An ITAA official told Newsbytes that the PAC hopes to raise at least $35,000 at the event tonight.
"Speaker Hastert gets IT," said ITAA President and NetPAC Director Harris Miller. "And the high-tech community is getting to understand the political process better. The people who have come to support Speaker Hastert today realize that he has championed technology interests in the past and they want to express their thanks."
Miller also said that this is "first exclusively high-tech" fund raising event for Hastert since he replaced the short-lived Bob Livingston, R-La., as speaker after the resignation of Newt Gingrich, R-Ga.
The ITAA official said Hastert was crucial as the Chief Deputy Whip in the 105th Congress to getting plenty of IT legislation passed in the House of Representatives.
ITAA officials were unavailable for comment on how much cash the PAC was attempting to raise for Hastert.
The ITAA said that NetPAC supports candidates for office "who work to further the issues critical to information technology industry through financial contributions."
Attendees tonight include America Online Inc. [NYSE:AOL] Senior Vice President for Government Affairs George Vradenburg; former Hastert Chief of Staff Peter Vroom; Jim deChaine, Vroom's partner in the IT consulting business Legislative Solutions; Litton PRC's Len Pomata; Harris Miller; Grant Thornton's Hank Steininger; EDS VP of Government Affairs John Lacopo; Weber-McGinn's Jimmy Hazel; and Federal Sources' Tom Hewitt.
Reported by Newsbytes News Network, http://www.newsbytes.com.
Just to put this all in perspective, I should point out that Dennis Hastert is not just any old right-wing extremist. He's Speaker of the House, and he has - among other things - "earned an 8% rating with the NAACP and a 0% with American Association of University Women because he opposes programs in higher learning admission decisions and in federal contract set-asides which benefit minority and women-owned small businesses." This is who Harris Miller raised money for and who he lavishly praised.
Oh yeah, it's not just Dennis Hastert either. Check this out from the Orlando Business Journal, wherein Harris Miller waxes rhapsodic about a total right-wing nutjob named Spencer Abraham:
...the tech industry also rewards its friends on the Republican side of the aisle. Sen. Spencer Abraham, R-Mich., one of the sponsors of the legislation to raise the cap on H-1B visas, has received more than $216,000 in contributions from the computer industry."I'm doing everything I can to get him re-elected," says Harris Miller, a lifelong Democrat who heads the Information Technology Association of America.
Yeah, great "lifelong Democrat." Thanks Harris. Oh yeah, here's Spencer Abraham on a few key issues, according to the "On the Issues" website:
*Voted YES on banning affirmative action hiring with federal funds. (Jul 1995)
*Voted NO on prohibiting job discrimination by sexual orientation. (Sep 1996)
*Voted YES on ending special funding for minority & women-owned business. (Oct 1997)
*Voted NO on setting aside 10% of highway funds for minorities & women. (Mar 1998)
Wonderful. With "loyal" and "lifelong" Democrats like Harris Miller, who needs enemies?