28 February 2002

See House Armed Services Committee hearing testimony (offsite links):

http://www.house.gov/hasc/schedules/

Opening Statement of Chairman Stump (html doc)

Honorable Thomas E. White, Secretary of the Army
Gen. Eric K. Shinseki, Chief of Staff, Department of the Army

Joint Testimony from White and Shinseki (html doc)

Hon. J. D. Crouch, Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy, Department of Defense ( html doc )

Hon. James J. Jochum, Asst. Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration, Department of Commerce ( html doc )

Hon. Vann Van Diepen, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, (Nonproliferation) ( html doc )

Mr. Joseph Christoff, Director, International Affairs and Trade Team, U.S. General Accounting Office (html doc)

Mr. Edmund Rice, President, Coalition for Employment Through Exports (html doc)

Mr. Gary Milhollin, Director, Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control (html doc)


Source: http://usinfo.state.gov/cgi-bin/washfile/display.pl?p=/products/washfile/latest&f=02022802.clt&t=/products/washfile/newsitem.shtml

US Department of State
International Information Programs

Washington File
_________________________________

28 February 2002

Administration, House Panel Divided over Export-Control Bill

(Armed Services Committee concerned on relaxing controls) (420)
By Bruce Odessey
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- The Bush administration has stated its opposition to
legislation advancing in the House of Representatives for reforming
the Cold War-era export-control system for sensitive technology.

Administration officials from the Commerce, Defense and State
departments testified at a February 28 hearing in the House Armed
Services Committee that they instead support the version passed 85-14
in November by the Senate.

The Senate-passed bill would replace the Cold War-era Export
Administration Act (EAA), which lapsed in 1994, was reauthorized by
Congress in August 2000 for one year and then lapsed again August 20,
2001.

For now legal authority for the export-control system rests in an
emergency law that has been challenged in U.S. courts.

The EAA controlled exports of what is called dual-use technology --
that is, commercial technology such as computers and machine tools
that have military applications.

Attempts to pass export-control reform failed repeatedly over the past
decade because of divisions in Congress between business interests on
one side and military, security and intelligence interests on the
other.

The Senate-passed bill would generally eliminate U.S. export controls
on mass-market items and items available from foreign sources although
it would give the president broad authority to maintain such controls
for national security reasons.

Members of the Armed Services Committee expressed skepticism about the
Senate version.

"The concern over this bill is that it will open the floodgates and
allow some of our most sensitive technologies to flow into labs and
arsenals of nations who have consistently demonstrated hostility to
United States' interests and could one day become military
adversaries," Representative Bob Stump, Republican committee chairman,
said in his opening statement.

His colleagues on Armed Services supported the 30 amendments added by
the House International Relations Committee when it approved its
version of the bill in August, amendments opposed by U.S. business
groups and the Bush administration.

Administration officials objected that the amendments would restrict
the president's flexibility too much. Some amendments would expand the
power of officials in agencies outside the Commerce Department to
block or stall decontrol decisions.

Stump said he expected the Armed Services Committee would soon
consider provisions in the bill under its jurisdiction but gave no
indication when the full House would vote on the bill.

(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site:
http://usinfo.state.gov)