[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 66 (Thursday, May 21, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5323-S5324]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. ABRAHAM (for himself, Mr. Wyden, Mr. McCain, and Mr. 
        Reed):
  S. 2107. A bill to enhance electronic commerce by promoting the 
reliability and integrity of commercial transactions through 
establishing authentication standards for electronic communications, 
and for other purposes; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation.


                  ELECTRONIC COMMERCE ENHANCEMENT ACT

Mr. ABRAHAM. Mr. President, today with Senators Wyden, McCain, 
and Reed I introduce the Electronic Commerce Enhancement Act. This 
legislation will bring the federal government into the electronic age, 
in the process saving American individuals and companies millions of 
dollars and hundreds of hours currently wasted on government paperwork.
  Mr. President, the Electronic Commerce Enhancement Act would require 
federal agencies to make versions of their forms available online and 
allow people to submit these forms with digital signatures instead of 
handwritten ones. It also sets up a process by which commercially 
developed digital signatures can be used in submitting forms to the 
government and permits the digital storage of federal documents.
  Each and every year, Mr. President, Americans spend in excess of $600 
billion simply filling out, documenting and handling government 
paperwork. This huge loss of time and money constitutes a significant 
drain on our economy and we must bring it under control. That is why we 
need this legislation.
  By providing individuals and companies with the option of electronic 
filing and storage, this bill will reduce the paperwork burden imposed 
by government on the American people and the American economy. It will 
allow people to move from printed forms they must fill out using 
typewriters or handwriting to digitally-based forms that can be filled 
out using a word processor. The savings in time, storage and postage 
will be enormous. One company, computer maker Hewlett-Packard, 
estimates that the section of this bill permitting companies to 
download copies of regulatory forms to be filed and stored digitally 
rather than physically will, by itself, save that company $1-2 billion 
per year.
  Other companies will experience similar savings, and the results for 
the overall economy will be enormous. Mr. President, the results for 
America's small businesses, which bear a disproportionate portion of 
the paperwork burden, will be enormous and may in some cases spell the 
difference between business success and failure.
  Mr. President, the easier and more convenient we make it for American 
businesses to comply with paperwork

[[Page S5324]]

and reporting requirements, the better job they will do of meeting 
these requirements, and the better job they will do of creating jobs 
and wealth for our country. This legislation will help businesses and 
small businesses in particular as they struggle to satisfy Washington 
bureaucrats while retaining sufficient resources to satisfy their 
customers and meet their payrolls.
  The most important benefit of this legislation, however, lies in the 
area of electronic innovation. Currently, digital encryption is in a 
relatively undeveloped state. One reason for that is the lack of 
opportunity for many individuals and companies to make use of the 
technology. Another is the lack of a set industry standard. By allowing 
use of this technology in the filling out of government paperwork, and 
by establishing a standard for digital encryption, the federal 
government can open the gates to quick, efficient development of this 
technology, as well as its more application throughout the economy. The 
benefits to American businesses as they struggle to establish paper-
free workplaces that will lower administrative costs, will be 
significant, and will further spur our national economy.
  Efficiency in the federal government itself will also be enhanced by 
this legislation. By forcing government bureaucracies to enter the 
digital information age we will force them to streamline their 
procedures and enhance their ability to maintain accurate, accessible 
records. This should result in significant cost savings for the federal 
government as well as increased efficiency and enhanced customer 
service.
  The information age is no longer new, Mr. President. We are in the 
midst of a revolution in the way people do business and maintain 
records. This legislation will force Washington to catch up with these 
developments, and release our businesses from the drag of an obsolete 
bureaucracy as they pursue further innovations. The result will be a 
nation and a people that is more prosperous, more free and more able to 
spend time on more rewarding pursuits.
  I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.
                                 ______