WASHINGTON-The job of exporting the information revolution appears increasingly better suited to National Telecommunications and Information Administration chief Larry Irving than to Mickey Kantor, who was named Commerce Secretary four months ago after Ron Brown died in a plane crash in Croatia.
There are reports that Kantor is not happy at Commerce, whose bureaucracy and mission are as sprawling as USTR’s is narrow. Moreover, Kantor finds himself out of the spotlight, removed from high-profile trade disputes like the one with China that vaulted his successor, Charlene Barshefsky, onto the front pages of newspapers around the world.
As a consequence, Kantor may simply ride out the Commerce stint through the presidential election, and-depending on whether Clinton hangs on to his lead over Republican presidential hopeful Bob Dole-have his role in the administration reassessed.
In the meantime, NTIA’s Irving could become the telecommunications industry’s key advocate overseas. His plate is full with conferences and negotiations in Jordan, Australia, Singapore, Mexico, France, Switzerland, England and India.
The choice of Kantor to take over Commerce was both logical and safe from a political perspective. Kantor, U.S. trade representative for the first three years of the Clinton administration, brought instant credibility, knowledge and experience to the job. He knew the same people Brown knew. Initiatives between the United States and other nations would not be disrupted; international business would continue as normal.
But it is a short term fix with uncertain policy implications for the future.
Kantor’s limitations, compared to Brown, are obvious. Kantor lacks the charm and salesmanship that opened so many doors for Brown around the world. Kantor has a sense of humor, a keen wit and his own folksy style. But at his core, Kantor is a tough, no-nonsense lawyer. He lacks Brown’s gift of gab and schmooze skills.
Kantor and Brown complemented one another. The one-two punch delivered scores of trade pacts for the Clinton administration and helped boost U.S. competitiveness. Kantor, among other things, played the leading role in opening Japan’s cellular market. But in the long run, it’s not clear whether Kantor is good for Commerce or vice a versa.
Irving shares many of Brown’s attributes; by his own admission, he is a salesman wearing a political hat. He’s animated and amiable, energetic and overflowing with confidence about opportunities abroad for U.S. companies to capitalize on technological expertise in emerging markets of Africa, Asia, the Middle East and South America.
And like Brown, who was a mentor to Irving, the NTIA chief believes America should not be a country of telecommunications haves and have-nots. He likes and understands technology perhaps even more than Brown did.
“He’s got more energy than he knows what to do with,” said Raul Rodriguez, an attorney who represents satellite companies and other telecommunications clients before the Federal Communications Commission.
Last week, Irving surrounded himself with industry representatives to talk about upcoming international telecommunications initiatives and to get their feedback.
As usual, the effusive Irving did most of the talking.
He urged participants to come forward with issues, but recommended they stay focussed because of money problems. The GOP-controlled Congress wanted to dismantle Commerce, which houses NTIA, but had to settle for budget cuts. Irving was perhaps the loudest and most persistent defender of Commerce.
“The realities are that NTIA, and particularly our international office, is going to have to do more with less,” Irving said. “We have significant budget constraints. But notwithstanding those budget constraints, we think we’ve done an admirable job, and will continue to do an admirable job, for this country and for this industry.”
Reflecting on the Information Society and Development Conference in Midrand, South Africa, a month after Brown’s death, Irving said the meeting was tough for personal and policy reasons.
“When you change leaders in the middle of the stream, it gets very, very difficult,” said Irving. “It was tough because there are some significant differences between the information society as envisioned by the developing world and the information society as realized by the developed world. And we have to bridge some of the differences in perception and reality between those two entities.”
Irving said he deliberately dodged the encryption controversy, having enough to deal with already. He told industry officials at last Tuesday’s meeting that because the GOP-led Congress is not going to help underwrite a major international telecommunications conference in 1998 in Minneapolis, they’re going to have to foot the entire bill.
Lawmakers, short on dollars, have argued industry should pay for the conference since it will benefit from it being held on American soil.
When industry suggested the United States might consider withdrawing its invitation in light of Congress’ refusal to fund the conference, Irving observed that to do so would risk losing the chance of hosting the conference in the future.
