SAFE HR 850

Guarantees all Americans the freedom to use any type of encryption anywhere in the world, and allows the sale of any type of encryption domestically.

Prohibits the government from requiring a backdoor into peoples' email and computer files ("mandatory key recovery").

Modernizes U.S. export controls to permit the export of generally available software and hardware if a product with comparable security is commercially available from foreign suppliers.

Creates criminal penalties for the knowing and willful use of encryption to conceal evidence of a crime, BUT specifies that the use of encryption does not constitute probable cause of a crime.

Calls upon the Attorney General to compile examples in which encryption has interfered with law enforcement.

Calls upon the President to convene an international conference to draft encryption policy agreement.

The SAFE bill, written by Reps. Goodlatte and Lofgren, is intended to protect domestic use of encryption and dramatically ease export controls. The bill has enjoyed broad bipartisan support from over 250 cosponsors .

H.R. 850 is similar to bills introduced in the 105th Congress and 104th Congress. In the 105th Congress, Reps. Goodlatte and Lofgren introduced H.R. 695, which had over 250 co-sponsors and was considered by five Committees by the end of the session. In the 104th Congress, Rep. Goodlatte introduced H.R. 3011, which enjoyed broad bipartisan support, and was the subject of a September 1996 hearing before the House Judiciary Committee.

Text of original bill and [.pdf ]

Judiciary Committee

Bill reported favorably without amendment.
Committee report [.pdf]

Commerce Committee

Bill reported with amendments.
Committee report with bill as amended [.pdf]
Stearns' amendment

International Relations Committee

Bill reported with amendments.
Committee report with bill as amended [.pdf]
Summary of amendments.


Intelligence Committee

Bill reported with amendment.
Committee report with bill as amended [.pdf]

Armed Services Committee

Bill reported with amendment [.pdf].
Committee report with bill as amended [.pdf]

CDT's Analysis

CDT Testimony before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (June 9, 1999)

CDT Testimony before the House International Relations Subcommittee on Economic Policy and Trade (May 19, 1999)

CDT Testimony before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property (March 4, 1999)

CDT Policy Post 5.4: "Bill Lifting Encryption Controls Re-Introduced in 106th Congress"

CDT Policy Post 5.5: "Crypto Hearings Begin, CDT Testifies"

CDT letter to Chairman Bliley urging the Commerce Committee to report SAFE favorably and without weakening amendments.

CDT letter to Chairman Spence urging the Armed Services Committee to report SAFE favorably and without weakening amendments.

Highlights from the Debate of SAFE

July 21, 1999 The Armed Services Committee by a vote of 47-6 adopted an amendment that would effectively gut the SAFE Act by giving the president unrestricted authority to deny encryption exports and to dictate the level of encryption eligible for license exceptions. The amendment also would impose new burdensome reporting requirements on encryption exports.

July 15, 1999 In a closed door session, the House Intelligence Committee adopted an "amendment in the nature of a substitute," a completely new version of SAFE that would continue most export controls. However, in a victory for privacy, the Committee's version of the bill did not try to mandate key recovery.

July 14, 1999 House Intelligence Committee held an open hearing. Witnesses:
Attorney General Janet Reno
FBI Director Louis Freeh
Deputy Defense Secretary John Hamre
former DEA Administrator Thomas Constantine

July 13, 1999 House Intelligence Committee held a closed door briefing.

July 13, 1999 The House International Relations Committee approved SAFE by a 33 to 5 vote. Seven amendments are adopted, but they left the bill's export reforms largely intact. Weakening amendments that would have seriously turned back the bill's export control liberalization were defeated.

July 13, 1999 Armed Services Committee heard testimony from both government and industry witnesses on SAFE.

Witnesses:
Panel 1:
Honorable Janet Reno, Attorney General, Department of Justice
Honorable Louis J. Freeh, Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation
Honorable William A. Reinsch, Under Secretary for Export Administration, Department of Commerce
Panel 2:
Elizabeth Kaufman, Senior Director & General Manager for Security, Cisco Systems, Inc.
Matthew Bowcock, Executive Vice President of Corporate Development, Baltimore Technologies

The American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world's largest multidisciplinary scientific society that does considerable work in human rights advocacy, sent a letter to members of Congress supporting the lifting of export controls on encryption and opposing measures that would maintain or increase controls. The letter drew a direct connection between human rights and the need for widespread availability of strong crypto.

July 1, 1999 Armed Services Committee heard testimony from administration witnesses on SAFE.

Opening Statement of Chairman Spence

• Honorable John J. Hamre, Deputy Secretary of Defense

• Barbara A. McNamara, Deputy Director, National Security Agency

CDT sent a letter to Chairman Spence urging the Armed Services Committee to report SAFE favorably and without weakening amendments.

June 23, 1999 Commerce Committee reported SAFE favorably but voted to attach several amendments to the bill including a troubling new federal crime, proposed by Rep. Stearns (R-FL), requiring the production of decryption keys or other forms of decryption assistance when presented with a court order. This amendment raised signficant privacy and fifth amendment concerns by leaving encryption users open to prosecution without clear guidelines for compliance. Rep. Oxley proposed an amendment that would have allowed government agencies to require non-government contractors to use key recovery systems. This amendment was withdrawn after substantial opposition from other members of the Committee. Three minor amendments sponsored by Reps. Oxley and Wilson were adopted, all relating to national security. CDT Policy Post concerning this markup. CDT wrote letter to Chairman Bliley urging the Commerce Committee to report SAFE favorably and without weakening amendments.

June 16, 1999 The House Subcommittee on Telecommunications voted against an amendment that would have guaranteed the government access to the plaintext of any encrypted communication or computer file. The amendment would have, for the first time ever, imposed domestic controls on encryption in the U.S. The Committee instead voted to adopt amendments similar to those approved in the last Congress, including a provision for a Net Center to provide high-tech support to law enforcement.

June 9, 1999 House Intelligence Committee held a hearing on SAFE. CDT testified on behalf of SAFE, challenging the Administration to provide satisfactory answers to basic questions about the effectiveness and costs of encryption export controls and plaintext access systems.

May 25, 1999 House Commerce Committee held a hearing on SAFE.

The witnesses testified as a single panel, consisting of:
The Honorable Ronald Lee, DOJ
The Honorable Barbara McNamara, NSA
The Honorable William Reinsch, DOC
Ed Gillespie, ACP
Richard Hornstein, Network Associates and BSA
Tom Arnold, CyberSource Corp. and SSIA
Dr. Gene Schultz, Global Integrity Corporation
David Dawson, V-One Corporation
Paddy Holahan, Baltimore Technologies


May 19, 1999 House International Relations Subcommittee on Economic Policy and Trade held a hearing on SAFE. CDT testified that SAFE is badly needed because encryption controls threaten privacy at home and abroad, strong encryption is increasingly available from foreign suppliers, and the courts continue to find encryption controls unconstituational.

March 27, 1999 Rep. Christopher Cox published "China: Technology is the Key to Freedom in China", an op-ed in San Jose Mercury News arguing that the export of strong encryption to China would promote democratic values and protect human rights.

March 24, 1999 Full House Judiciary Committee held mark-up on SAFE bill. Rep. McCollum (R-Fl) proposed amendment that would require "immediate access to plaintext," infringing upon Fourth Amendment privacy rights and Fifth Amendment protections against self-incrimination. Rep. Goodlatte blocked the amendment on jurisdictional grounds, and the bill was reported favorably without amendment. CDT sent letter to Chairman Hyde urging the Judiciary Committee to report SAFE favorably and without amendment.

March 11, 1999 House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property passed SAFE bill by unanimous voice vote without amendment.

March 4, 1999 House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property held hearing on SAFE bill.


Witness List and Testimony   Cybercast of Testimony


Honorable Howard Coble Honorable William Reinsch Honorable Ronald D. Lee Honorable Barbara McNamara Thomas Parenty

Craig McLaughlin Grover Norquist Dorothy E. Denning Alan Davidson Ed Gillespie Honorable Dave McCurdy

February 25, 1999 Reps. Goodlatte and Lofgren re-introduce SAFE bill in 106th Congress.

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