Washington – CCIA presented its high tech defender award to two western Congressmen starting their second term – Jared Polis, D-Colo., and Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah during its 39th Washington Caucus reception last night.
As Judiciary Committee members, both helped prevent this Congress from making a big “generational mistake” on overreaching and harmful copyright legislation.
Their voices and actions on SOPA are proof positive that “doing the right thing” in Congress need not be polarizing or even partisan.
Chaffetz was quoted by multiple media outlets for saying “We’re going to do surgery on the Internet without bringing in the nerds.”
Polis, who was a successful online entrepreneur before coming to Washington, was helped explain cybersecurity issues to his colleagues and how the SOPA bill would Balkanize Internet “creating a separate Internet that Americans users would experience. It is simply the wrong solution to a very real problem.”
The reception followed an all day meeting between tech company executives and members of Congress and the administration.
CCIA, which turns 40 this year, also hosted a photo booth where members and staffers posed with vintage tech equipment.