Reaction of Sen. Patrick Leahy To Signing Of 'Electronic Signatures' E-Commerce Bill Co-Authored By Leahy

June 30, 2000

[President Clinton Friday (June 30) signed the Electronic Signatures Bill into law, while visiting Philadelphia. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) is co-author of the law, which passed the Senate as the Abraham-Leahy Bill last November. Leahy also was a conferee during the lengthy and difficult House-Senate negotiations on the bill. Leahy, Sen. Ernest Hollings (D-S.C.), Sen. Paul Sarbanes (D-Md.), Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) fought for and won agreement on final provisions that prevent the wholesale federal preemptions of state consumer protection laws that were incorporated in the earlier House-passed version of the bill. Leahy's reaction:]

"We now have a charter for the next growth phase of the electronic marketplace, and it is a consumer-friendly charter. This law shows that we can move confidently into the era of electronic commerce without sacrificing basic consumer safeguards."