Speaker Biographies

Thomas J. Bliley Jr. was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives (R-Va.) for twenty-four years. Prior to his service in Congress, Mr. Bliley served as vice-mayor of Richmond from 1968–1970 and as mayor from 1970–1977. He was elected to the Ninety-Seventh Congress and began his service on January 3, 1981. Thereafter, he served on nine succeeding Congresses until January 3, 2001. He served as chairman to the Committee on Commerce during his last six years in the House. One of his many accomplishments as a Congressman was his considerable work on the 1996 Telecommunications Act, about which he has published several works, including Is the Telecommunications Act of 1996 Broken?: If So, How Can We Fix It? (AEI Press, 1999).

Karlyn H. Bowman is a resident fellow at AEI. Bowman's research areas include public opinion and polls, U.S. politics, and the media. She has written extensively about the standing of Congressional legislation and writes a weekly column, “POLLitics,” for Roll Call. She is also the editor of “Opinion Pulse” in The American Enterprise magazine.

Harold Furchtgott-Roth was a commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission from 1997 through 2001. Previously, he served as chief economist for the House Committee on Commerce and was the principal staff member responsible for developing the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Since leaving his government positions, he founded Furchtgott-Roth Economic Enterprises in 2003, an economic consulting firm. Mr. Furchtgott-Roth also writes a weekly column for the business page of the New York Sun. His new book, A Tough Act to Follow: the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and the Separation of Powers (AEI Press, 2006), was written while he was a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (2001–03).

Kevin J. Martin is chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). He has been a member of the Commission since July 2001 and was designated chairman by President Bush on March 18, 2005. Martin joined the Commission from the White House, where he served as a special assistant to the president for economic policy and was on the staff of the National Economic Council. In that capacity, he focused primarily on commerce and technology policy issues. Prior to his work for the Bush administration, from 1997 to 1999, he served as a legal advisor to FCC commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth, advising him on telecommunications and broadband issues. This work followed several years in private practice at the Washington, D.C. law firm of Wiley, Rein & Fielding. Chairman Martin serves a five-year term on the Commission expiring in June 2006.

Larry L. Pressler was a member of Congress (R-S.D.) for twenty-two years, serving eighteen years in the United States Senate and four years in the House of Representatives. He was a principal author of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 while serving as chairman of the U.S. Senate commerce, science and transportation committee. During his time in Congress, he authored various aviation, pipeline, transportation, satellite, foreign policy, business, and trade legislations. Since leaving the U.S. Senate in 1997, he has pursued a business career largely centered on a telecommunications law practice, lobbying, teaching, and serving on corporate boards. While continuing his diverse practice, Pressler was most recently appointed as an official observer to the Ukraine national election in December 2004.