Peter Davidson

Peter Davidson is senior vice president - Federal Government Relations for Verizon, a position he has held since April 2003. Davidson is responsible for federal legislative policy matters affecting Verizon's interests and for the company's relations with Congress and the Obama administration. In addition, he coordinates national and homeland security interaction with state and federal governments, as well as Verizon's interaction with over two dozen state and local groups such as the National Governors Association, National Conference of Mayors, and the National Council of State Legislators.

Before joining Verizon, Davidson served as general counsel assisting the United States Trade Representative in negotiating and implementing trade agreements and supervising litigation at the World Trade Organization.

Prior to becoming general counsel to the USTR in February 2001, Davidson was vice president for Congressional Affairs at Qwest, coordinating all federal legislative activities for that company.

From January 1995 until June 1999, Davidson served as the general counsel and policy director to the majority leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, Dick Armey. In this capacity, he advised Armey on a broad range of legal matters and led Armey's legislative planning team in charge of developing leadership priorities, working with committees, and negotiating with the Senate and the White House.

Davidson also served as general counsel and policy director for the House Republican Conference and as attorney-advisor in the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel. Before that, he was law clerk to Judge John Porfilio on the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, CO.

He is a 1984 graduate of Carleton College in Northfield, Minn., and received his J.D. degree in 1990 from the University of Virginia.