Date: Tue, 10 Mar 92 15:32:53 PST From: tenney@NETCOM.COM(Glenn S. Tenney) Subject: File 7-- Cyberspace Candidate for Congress The following is my online announcement of my candidacy to the U.S. House of Representatives followed by a copy of my platform and a brief bio. I also have available a copy of the press release I sent out on Business Wire. A photograph is also available. Please email or call if yeou want more info. Equally, if you don't want me to email you again as my campaign progresses, please let me know. Since it is my intention to serve as an online representative, I felt that you would find this interesting... Yes, I would be most appreciative of any and all legal campaign donations except from Political Action Committees. If you aren't sure what is and isn't an allowable donation, just let me know... Glenn Tenney For Congress 2111 Ensenada Way San Mateo, CA 94403 Voice or Fax: (415) 574-2931 +++++++++++++++++cut here for online announcement of my candidacy MARCH 6, 1992, SAN MATEO, CALIFORNIA: Progress begins with initiative, a coming together of a vision and the will to accomplish great things. Silicon Valley entrepreneurs know this very well. For too long, career politicians have laid barriers in the way of people working to build a humane, viable future with the tools that technology has given them. When the people have asked for widespread access to telecommunications, computing power, and education, old-school politicians have pointed to the necessity for defense spending instead of making investments in the future. That's why I'm announcing my candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives in the reapportioned twelfth Congressional District of California. My district covers most of the area from San Mateo up to Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. As a Democrat, I will be challenging our twelve year incumbent in the June Primary. A few weeks ago I asked Congressman Tom Lantos' staff how he voted last year. Their initial response was to hand me the glossy advertising brochure that our tax dollars paid for. When pressed to find out how he voted, or didn't vote, I was ushered into their library, shown to the Congressional Record, and told to look it up myself day by day. This is how my representative, from one of the most technologically advanced districts, brings information to his constituents. Career politicians have remained dedicated to high defense spending while the real tools needed for worldwide economic competition are lying dormant. We need to encourage the young, trained minds of our country, and to provide the communications power to unleash that talent. Every day we are faced with non-technical problems such as health insurance, jobs, and our economy, but I feel very strongly that our country needs to look at the future of technology: how it can be used or abused, and how it is abusing all of us. Technology is advancing far faster than our laws can cope, which raises many legal, sociological, ethical, and constitutional questions. Answering these questions requires both an understanding of the technology and actual experiences with the technology. Our greatest resources for the future are our children and our world. Our country needs to take a proactive role in producing the best educated future generation that we can, as well as having a place for that generation to live and be productive. We need to find innovative and creative ways to put technology to work for our future rather than putting up legislative roadblocks to the future. Providing the information and education we and our children need to be competitive in the future is coupled to our economy. We can't be productive today, nor can our children compete in the future, without information and education. We must plan for the twenty-first century today. We are faced with a society of economic haves and have-nots. Most of us actively involved with technology and information access know that information is power. We are fast becoming a nation of information "knows" and "know-nots", and those who do not have the information will be in an even more devastating position than those who are just economically disadvantaged. Our government itself works to keep information unavailable to us. We need to bring information to the people, and get information from the people to our elected officials. This will help bring the power back to the people. You can be an elected official without being a career politician, but you can't legislate technological issues unless you understand the technology. We need elected officials who are online and accessible, and with whom information flows -- to them and from them as a dialogue. One of the problems of our political system is that it takes money to win. Too often these funds come from Political Action Committees. The traditional view has been that campaign funding is spent to "get the message out". The online community finally has a chance to use this new medium to not only get a message out, but to discuss the issues without spending obscene amounts of money. Let's use my campaign as a demonstration of the power of online politics. Pass this release and my platform on to your friends and colleagues, and around your town. Even though California's twelfth Congressional District covers the area from San Mateo up to Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, these issues need to be discussed online and in the media nationwide. We of the online community are currently an under-represented constituency. Let's change that. Let's get Congress online. Even an online campaign isn't free. Network etiquette precludes me from asking for campaign contributions, but please do contact me directly: Paid for by the Glenn Tenney for Congress Campaign Committee 2111 Ensenada Way San Mateo, CA 94403 Voice/Fax: (415) 574-2931 tenney@netcom.corm or Compuserve: 70641,23 (also MCI Mail, America Online, and others) --30-- +++++++++++++++++cut here for a copy of my platform Congressional Candidate Glenn Tenney's Platform For Our Future MARCH 6, 1992, SAN MATEO, CALIFORNIA: Most candidates look like every other candidate on most issues. I am differentiated on high-tech issues. Here's how I feel about a few traditional and technological issues: * We need to be competitive in the "global village" world economy, to focus on America without being protectionist. Education and information are keys to achieving these goals. * Our country, from the top down, needs to look years into the future instead of just months. Our country and our businesses also need to understand that our people are our major asset for the future. We must rescue our environment to have a future. * Being in business for myself, not being wealthy, and having raised five boys means that my wife and I live the health care problem daily. A tax credit next year doesnUt help us pay our insurance premium next month, let alone help us find insurance. Our country must commit to defining and providing a minimal level of health care to everyone. * When my wife and I decided to become parents we fortunately had access to all the information and options, and had the right to a choice. I am pro-family and pro-choice. * Recent events in what was the Soviet Union offers us the opportunity of our lifetime to take dramatic steps towards world peace, and a true peace-time economy. We must significantly reduce our defense budget while helping defense businesses and their workers transition to non-defense ventures. Our country's enormous supply of talent currently committed to defense-related projects can be put to effective and innovative use in solving many other problems. We can do this and maintain defensive strength. * We must encourage businesses to invest in our future both by reducing long term capital gains taxes (for capital that is actually a long term investment in our future) and providing tax incentives for research and development. Having participated in chip designs, and seeing how biotechnology is progressing, I know that many innovations require a large long-term capital investment. * There are tremendous changes waiting to happen if only we can provide high-speed computer and data networks between our universities, public schools (K-12) and homes. We need to take steps to wire our country for Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) or 'fiber to the home.' Affordable ubiquitous networked computing will have an effect that can hardly be imagined by those outside of the field. * Most people get their news from television. About two-thirds of our homes receive that news on cable TV, yet only a small number of companies choose what channels are available. Cable TV affords us many advantages, yet like all technologies it is a double edged sword. We need policies that better deal with these "monopolies", and which provide for true competition. * Technology is encroaching more and more into our everyday life, and abusing our privacy along the way. These issues hit all of us when applying for credit, going to the doctor, applying for a job, and even when making an 800 toll-free phone call. For example, there are companies providing computers to doctors' offices in exchange for access to all of their records. These problems are affecting everyone, and are not esoteric technological issues. I am committed to protecting our privacy at home and on the job. * The computer networks criss-crossing our country are the highways of tomorrow. These networks are an 'online electronic frontier' connecting such diverse groups as a Native American Tribal school with an M.I.T. mathematics class. The electronic frontier is a new publishing medium, and a new 'place' of assembly raising many issues of privacy and rights of free speech. Online we can achieve what political consultants want: a way to get a message to many people. A key element of being online is that the people can also get their message TO their representatives. This technology affords us the opportunity to discuss issues with our representatives. * We need ready access to information, especially flowing to and from our government at all levels. Information is power, and we the people must recapture the power that should be ours. Paid for by the Glenn Tenney for Congress Campaign Committee 2111 Ensenada Way San Mateo, CA 94403 Voice/Fax: (415) 574-2931 tenney@netcom.com or Compuserve: 70641,23 (also MCI Mail, America Online, and others) --30-- ++++++++++++++++++++++ cut here for a copy of my brief bio Congressional Candidate Glenn Tenney Talks a Bit About Himself MARCH 6, 1992, SAN MATEO, CALIFORNIA: I've never had a desire to be a career politician. Apparently, few politihcians in recent times have carried a vision to Washington. That's why I have decided to act on my vision of our country's future in the twenty-first century by working with you, as your representative in Washington. My vision sees an information revolution that has already started and will be as dramatic as was the industrial revolution. We need legislators who can truly understand future technologies and how to use them to our advantage instead of having the technologies abuse us. I take our future and my campaign seriously. I am compelled to help prepare our country for the next century even if that means becoming an elected official and putting my career on hold. I've been professionally involved in various aspects of technologies (software and hardware) having begun operating system and compiler design some 28 years ago, even before graduating high school. I've been "online" since then, being "hand's on" with technology having designed and implemented many small and large systems as well as having programmed on dozens of systems. I've also researched and written about technology, and about people's fears of technology. I've been self-employed (or a "high-tech entrepreneur", depending on how you want to view it) since I formed my own company in 1974. Since then I've been involved in a few Silicon Valley high-tech startups including the very beginning of the personal computer industry, as well as chip designs and a few others. My company has been a "mom and pop" venture since Susan and I were married in 1976. I have two children and three step-children. I grew up in the Chicago area and moved to San Mateo county in 1972, raising our children in San Mateo since 1976. I turned 43 years old the day after I announced my candidacy. The following are some important aspects of who I am... BA in Management (with honors), Saint Mary's College of California. Senior Member of the Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), and member of the IEEE Computer Society. Participating Member, IEEE USA Intellectual Property Committee (dealing with employed inventors rights, and copyright/patent issues and legislation). Member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). Chairperson and Organizer of The Hackers Conference (an annual International high-tech conference) since it was originated by Stewart Brand of The Whole Earth Catalog. Member of the program and organizing committee of the first Conference on Computers, Freedom and Privacy held last year. Former Member of the Board of Trustees, Peninsula Temple Beth El. Licensed Amateur Radio Operator (a "ham", callsign AA6ER). Licensed Private Pilot (single engine land, instrument rated). I've also been President of a variety of local computer and amateur radio groups, and I am still involved with these groups and many other organizations. Paid for by the Glenn Tenney for Congress Campaign Committee 2111 Ensenada Way San Mateo, CA 94403 Voice/Fax: (415) 574-2931 tenney@netcom.com or Compuserve: 70641,23 (also MCI Mail, America Online, and others) Downloaded From P-80 International Information Systems 304-744-2253