Lawmakers Flock to Silicon Valley for Fund-Raisers

Almost a fourth of the U.S. Senate will pass through the Silicon Valley in early December, in a dizzying schedule of fund-raisers and round tables that underscores the area’s status as a wellspring of ideas and political contributions.

The back-to-back visits begin Wednesday, when Majority Leader Trent Lott of Mississippi will head a delegation of seven GOP senators in a two-day blitz; at least one fund-raiser during that trip is expected to net $250,000 all by itself.

Five days later, Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota will lead as many as 16 Democrats in another two-day swing. In addition to those appearances, there will be individual visits by several other senators stumping for campaign dollars.

“As we start the next year, everyone is looking to the new century’s economy. And the Silicon Valley is the global leader of that economy,” said Michael Meehan, political director for Daschle. “So it is natural that it would be one of the battlegrounds we would have economically and politically.”

Ellen Stroud, communications director for the technology industry’s bipartisan political organization Technology Network, said the December pilgrimages are about more than fund-raising.

“Silicon Valley is the place to be,” said Stroud, a former congressional staffer. “It is where the innovation and creative focus of the new economy is occurring. And [the senators] want to be part of that . . . so they are going to be doing a lot more than raising money.”

The lure of Silicon Valley has become irresistible to federal lawmakers in recent years as the nation’s leaders increasingly view it as the source of innovations in everything from national defense to public education.

“I think what we’ve seen is more and more policymakers engaging with the high-tech industry because they see high-tech playing a greater and greater role not only in the economy but in society,” said Tom Galvin, a spokesman for Cisco Systems Inc.

The relationship was especially evident, Galvin noted, when Cisco Chief Executive John Chambers gave a dinner speech to a bipartisan political group in Washington that drew 93 members of Congress.

The Lott-led delegation of Republicans this week will stage a round-table discussion of regulatory and privacy issues, technology imports and exports and the high-tech work force with 30 industry executives. The Republicans also will visit a San Jose elementary school to showcase a public-private educational partnership in classroom computer education.

“Over the past several years, we have started a dialogue on policy initiatives that are important to the high-tech industry,” said Lezlee Westine, Technology Network’s vice president, general counsel and GOP liaison.

In the politically pragmatic world of Silicon Valley, Republicans like Westine say, the GOP is well positioned to win over voters who are fiscally conservative and socially moderate.

Democratic Party leaders also see opportunities in the region.

“It is an area where we have built a lot of great relationships during the ‘90s,” said Meehan of Daschle’s office.