Chamber urges House to oppose H.R. 3261 "Database and Collections of Information Misappropriation Act"

January 19, 2004

The Honorable Thomas H. Allen
1717 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-1901

Dear Representative Allen:

I am writing on behalf of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the world's largest business federation, representing more than three million businesses of every size, sector and region, to urge you to oppose H.R. 3261, "the Database and Collections of Information Misappropriation Act" in its current form. As explained in more detail below, this legislation will have very serious negative effects on the economy.

As you know, this controversial legislation has a long and checkered history. However, instead of careful, deliberative consideration by the Committees of the issues and their implications, this contentious legislation is on track to move quickly through the legislative process, even as our vigorous opposition has grown.

Therefore, on behalf of the Chamber's three million businesses, I again want to thank you for the opportunity to testify about the Chamber's very serious concerns regarding the database bill. I reiterate the common-sense observation that, if Chamber members couldn't protect their investment in database production, they would be urging me to affirmatively fight for a new law. Instead, the size of our opposition coalition continues to grow, as Google, Verizon, SBC and others join in opposing this legislation.

I am enclosing a more detailed attachment that examines the serious problems that the Chamber sees with this legislation, and lays out in more detail some of the adverse consequences that this legislation could cause in the real world, as opposed to the hypothetical world of the bill's proponents. This memorandum lays out those concerns in significant detail, and we would hope that the Committees would strive to address these problems. I am also including copies of our testimony and other communications with the Committees explaining our concerns with this legislation.

Again, on behalf of American business and our three million members, I want to thank you for inviting me to testify and share our serious concerns.

Sincerely,

Thomas J. Donohue
President and CEO
U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Enclosures

Concerns regarding H.R. 3261 (PDF)