Expressing support for designation of June 30 as "National ESIGN Day".

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

It is great to be down here with my colleague Mr. McDermott. Usually, I don't like resolutions, you know, but he approached me on the floor. This is a really important one, and I think it is important to go back over the history of what we did 10 years ago.

Mr. Speaker, everything was paper. You had to have paper copies. You couldn't do bank transactions. You couldn't do certifications. You couldn't do business documentation.

My colleague mentioned Anna Eshoo, who is a great friend of mine on the committee. Jay Inslee is also a great friend of mine on the committee. I serve on the Energy and Commerce Committee. I've been on the Telecommunications Subcommittee. I think credit goes to Chairman Bliley, and I think credit goes to Billy Tauzin. The great thing about Energy and Commerce is a lot of the issues that we address cut across partisan lines, especially on the Technology Subcommittee.

So the signing of this bill really helped, as my colleague said, and it really changed the way we can conduct business in the new digital age. It is really a great credit, and it does merit taking the time to think back on those folks who pushed for this, in a bipartisan resolution and through both Chambers, in order to get the bill signed into law.

I am sure there was opposition by Members in both parties. In fact, I know one famous Democrat on the committee who wasn't an original supporter of this. So the fact that Chairman Bliley and Billy Tauzin, as the chairmen of the subcommittee and the full committee, were all engaged in support shows what we can do when we work together.

The Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, ESIGN, represents a critical step in harmonizing the world's global commerce and contract law with a modern electronic and increasingly Internet- dependent world. This happened during the 106th Congress. It was my second Congress. I came in during the 105th.

I think the other important information is with other digital e- commerce issues that we are approaching and discussing. We are discussing one in the committee now, which is the 21st century access to disabilities, which is trying to make sure that the digital age doesn't leave the disability community behind.

So the question that we faced in the committee today was: How much do we make sure that we set the standards but that we don't dictate technology? Because, if we dictate technology, we disincentivize the folks who are the smarts behind this new age.

What we did on ESIGN was to say, Here are the standards. You smart people figure it out. Make sure that privacy is protected. Make sure that you can continue to keep data if people want hard copies. The other thing we allowed was for the consumers to choose. If people wanted to try this new venue, it was pretty scary. Can you imagine going on the Internet 10 years ago and saying, ``I'm going to buy a pair of tennis shoes, and I'm going to put my credit card number on the computer, and they're going to mail me this stuff, and it's all going to work out''? It was pretty scary. People do it all the time now, but you know what? If you want to go down to the store and pay cash for those shoes, you can still do it.

So the benefit of what we did was to say let the consumers choose. Also, the benefit of what we did was to say give the business community the standards. Don't try to squeeze them into a one-size-fits-all method. Let the great innovative minds--many of them are in my colleague's State of Washington State--really make this stuff work.

I've been on the Energy and Commerce Committee for, fortunately, my 14 years in Congress, and I've been on the Telecommunications Subcommittee. I should be an expert. I still don't understand it. I still don't understand how it all works, but I know that there are smart enough people who can make it work, and this is a perfect example. This 10-year anniversary, in essence, is a tremendous success story. I have a 17-year-old, a 15-year-old and a 10-year-old. They are growing up in an age where they don't know any other way of doing transactions and of doing business than what we did 10 years ago.

Jim, I appreciate your effort. I appreciate your coming to me on the floor. Like I said, I'm not a big resolution guy, but I thought this was one worthy of sitting back and of focusing on what we did in the hopes, as we move forward on other high-tech issues, that we will set the guidelines but that we will let the really smart innovators figure out how it can be done.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 290) expressing support for designation of June 30 as ``National ESIGN Day''.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material in the Record.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the signing of the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, the ESIGN bill, a landmark piece of legislation that has transformed how we conduct interstate commerce and business. The advent of e-signatures has brought enormous benefit to both consumers and businesses alike by drastically improving convenience, reducing costs, and increasing the speed of transactions.

As many of you know, I represent Seattle, which is one of the most wired and high-tech cities in the world. ESIGN has greatly improved the ability of companies in my district to be more effective and competitive in the global marketplace.

I would especially like to acknowledge Seattle-based electronic signature platform provider DocuSign for being a leader in the electronic signatures and records industry and for helping spearhead the coalition to recognize June 30 as National ESIGN Day.

DocuSign recognizes that the benefits of e-commerce extend beyond the dollar values that are placed on business activity. With over 30,000 current customers and having served over 4.5 million people to date, DocuSign provides its customers with confidence in the integrity and credibility of emerging electronic capabilities. They have been a leader in removing obstacles and barriers to business transactions online and in allowing their customers to work faster, more reliably, and more securely.

It is important we recognize the foresight and vision of those who worked so hard to pass ESIGN 10 years ago, including Congresswoman Anna Eshoo and Congressman Jay Inslee. The passage of that bill has helped more American companies to operate globally, and it has helped to increase productivity and efficiency for consumers, businesses, and governments.

When President Clinton signed the bill into law in June 2000, he said, ``Just imagine if this had existed 224 years ago. The Founding Fathers wouldn't have had to come all the way to Philadelphia on July 4 for the Declaration of Independence. They could have emailed their John Hancocks in.''

Now, 10 years later, that is what businesses and governments in every corner of the globe are able to do--instantly complete transactions that used to take days.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. Speaker, today marks the 10th anniversary of the enactment of the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act. I rise in support of designating today as ``National ESIGN Day'' and commend Mr. McDermott for bringing this resolution to the Floor.

Ten years ago the thought of filing your taxes electronically, renewing your drivers license, and filling out a mortgage application on your computer was one that many feared. There was uncertainty about the security of the transaction and how to verify who was on each end of the keyboard. We recognized then that we needed rules of the road that would guide us into the information society. We needed to create trust in this emerging technology called the ``internet'' if it was going to grow into what we hoped would be at least a new and efficient way to do business electronically in both the public and private sector.

We stood at a crossroads ten years ago. We needed to eliminate obsolete barriers to electronic commerce such as undue pen and paper requirements and other practices that slowed down innovation. In March of 1999 I introduced the H.R. 1320, the Millennium Digital Commerce Act because I recognized that the growth of electronic commerce and electronic government transactions represented a powerful force for economic growth, consumer choice, improved civic participation, and wealth creation.

Less than a year later, in January of 2000, the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act was signed into law.

As the information and innovation society is now fully integrated into almost every aspect of our lives, we stand here today to look back over the last ten years. Electronic commerce is now the driving force of our global economy. The level of confidence in the internet and the innovative tools it has created continues to grow. As we stood at that intersection ten years ago, we took our country and our consumers in the right direction.

I urge all of my colleagues to support H. Con. Res. 290 designating June 30th as ``National ESIGN Day.''

Madam Speaker, I move a call of the House.

Madam Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.