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 ArmyJoint 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)
US Department of State
International Information Programs
Washington File
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28 February 2002
(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)