The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“STATEMENTS ON SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Commerce was published in the Senate section on pages S4846-S4847 on May 10, 2001.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
STATEMENTS ON SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS
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SENATE RESOLUTION 87--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE THAT THERE
SHOULD BE ESTABLISHED A JOINT COMMITTEE OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES TO INVESTIGATE THE RAPIDLY INCREASING ENERGY PRICES
ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND TO DETERMINE WHAT IS CAUSING THE INCREASES
Mr. DORGAN (for himself, Mr. Daschle, Mr. Reid, Mr. Durbin, Mrs. Feinstein, Mrs. Boxer, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Harkin, and Mrs. Clinton) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration:
S. Res. 87
Whereas the price of energy has skyrocketed in recent months;
Whereas the California consumers have seen a 10-fold increase in electricity prices in less than 2 years;
Whereas natural gas prices have doubled in some areas, as compared with a year ago;
Whereas gasoline prices are close to $2.00 per gallon now and are expected to increase to as much as $3.00 per gallon this summer;
Whereas energy companies have seen their profits doubled, tripled, and in some cases even quintupled; and
Whereas high energy prices are having a detrimental effect on families across the country and threaten economic growth: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved,
SECTION 1. SENSE OF THE SENATE CONCERNING THE NEED TO
ESTABLISH A JOINT COMMITTEE OF THE SENATE AND
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TO INVESTIGATE THE
RAPIDLY INCREASING ENERGY PRICES ACROSS THE
COUNTRY AND TO DETERMINE WHAT IS CAUSING THE
INCREASES.
It is the sense of the Senate that there should be established a joint committee of the Senate and House of Representatives to--
(1) study the dramatic increases in energy prices
(including increases in the prices of gasoline, natural gas, electricity, and home heating oil);
(2) investigate the cause of the increases;
(3) make findings of fact; and
(4) make such recommendations, including recommendations for legislation and any administrative or other actions, as the joint committee determines to be appropriate.
Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce a concurrent resolution calling attention to global e-commerce, a trade issue of great economic interest to this country. My esteemed colleague Senator McCain and I have drafted this legislation to express the sense of Congress on the importance of promoting global electronic commerce. In the House of Representatives, Congresswoman Tauscher and Congressman Dreier will introduce the very same legislation. I am honored to be joined on this resolution by these three knowledgeable and distinguished leaders on technology issues.
Our economic landscape is undergoing a fundamental transformation. We are transitioning into a ``new economy'', a rapidly evolving, global marketplace that is governed by new rules and driven largely by new forces. Those new forces include information technology and the Internet. We all recognize that we are witnessing an electronic revolution. There is no shortage of statistics to prove what we are seeing all around us. According to a recent U.S. Department of Commerce report, approximately one third of the U.S. economic growth in the past few years has come from information technologies. Worldwide, there are more than 200 countries connected to the Internet today. That is up from 165 in 1996 and just eight in 1988. Today, more than 300 million people worldwide, more than half in North America, use the Internet. With Internet traffic continuing to double every 100 days, by 2005 more than one billion people will be connected. Importantly, more than three-quarters of them will be outside North America.
This digital age brought about by the Internet and information technology is opening new markets and growth opportunities for all types of U.S. companies in every corner of this vast country. ``Digital Trade'', including cross-border e-commerce transactions for goods and services, global business relationships enabled by electronic networks, and the goods and services that enable those transactions and relationships, can help new companies to emerge and existing companies to flourish. For example, according to a study done for Cisco by the Gartner Group, Europe's Internet economy is set to grow twenty-fold, from $53 billion in 1999 to $1.2 trillion in 2004. That growth presents real opportunities for millions of American companies and consumers.
We are seeing industry adjust to these new realities and seize these new opportunities. Last year, 60 percent of B-to-B companies were building globalized websites designed to reach audiences in many countries and across different cultures. By 2004, the level of globalization is expected to reach 80 percent. Those companies that choose not to globalize their websites project foreign revenue earnings this year of 12 percent. Those companies that do globalize expect foreign revenue earnings of 35 percent.
To make this picture of the digital age more real, let me move closer to home and talk about one of my favorite New Economy companies, Coastal Tool. Coastal Tool is a small family-owned business with 12 employees. They are in a very traditional industry, hardware retail, in a very traditional location, the heart of New England, West Hartford, CT. However, Coastal Tool is anything but traditional in its approach to business. Early on in the Internet revolution, Coastal Tool adopted information technology to improve its sales and marketing efforts. They understood back in the early 1990s what Alan Greenspan speaks of today when he testifies here on the Hill that there is a strong and undeniable link between the adoption of information technology, rising productivity, and increasing economic prosperity. Today, this small company does 20-30 percent of its business online, selling hand and power tools like biscuit joiners and disc grinders. It generates 15-20 percent of its revenue from online sales to overseas customers and is now exporting to more than 50 countries. By competing online and overseas, Coastal Tool, on the web at www.Coastaltool.com, is a true new economy success story and but one example of how an exponential growth in information technology adoption and e-commerce are reshaping the global economy.
But the global economy and digital trade also present us with challenges. While there are few if any technology barriers to global e-
commerce, there are actual and potential policy and political barriers. For example, according to a recent survey of chief information officers across the country by CIO Magazine, approximately one third of the respondents feel that current barriers limit their company's ability to conduct e-commerce across international borders. Clearly this is a reality and a challenge with which we here in Washington must be concerned. That is why we have worked closely with industry, including the Information Technology Association of American, the Business Software Alliance, The Information Technology Industry Council, and the Semiconductor Industry Association, to draft this very important resolution.
This resolution describes the incredible opportunity that global e-
commerce presents for the U.S. It calls on the Administration to make digital trade, the promotion of cross-border e-commerce, a high priority on its trade agenda and to work in good faith with our trading partners to encourage its continued growth. More specifically, it states that the U.S. should encourage members of the World Trade Organization to promote the development of infrastructures necessary for e-commerce and refrain from adopting measures that would constitute actual or potential trade barriers to electronic commerce. The resolution does not take policy positions on specific issues of international trade. It does take a first step in making sure that global e-commerce is an issue and an opportunity with which members of this body are familiar.
I respectfully urge all of my colleagues here in the Senate to show their support for U.S. consumer and commercial interests by joining Senator McCain and me in sponsoring and working to pass this very important concurrent resolution.
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