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The Center for Democracy and Technology /____/ Volume 3, Number 11
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A briefing on public policy issues affecting civil liberties online
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CDT POLICY POST Volume 3, Number 11 July 23, 1997
CONTENTS: (1) SAFE Pro-Privacy Encryption Bill Clears Another Key
House Committee
(2) How to Subscribe/Unsubscribe
(3) About CDT, contacting us
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_____________________________________________________________________________
(1) SAFE PRO-PRIVACY ENCRYPTION BILL CLEARS ANOTHER KEY HOUSE COMMITTEE
Against the backdrop of a well-organized effort on the part of the Clinton
Administration and opponents of encryption policy reform to defeat it,
H.R. 695 -- the Security and Freedom Through Encryption (SAFE) Act -- was
approved Tuesday by the House International Relations Committee without
amendment.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA)
and over 190 other House members, would protect privacy and security on
the Internet by relaxing export controls on strong encryption and prohibit
the government from imposing key recovery or key escrow encryption
domestically. The bill has now cleared two major House Committees and
enjoys broad bipartisan support. Just last week, House Minority Leader
Dick Gephardt (D-MO) became a cosponsor of the bill.
The committee also defeated an amendment offered by Committee Chairman Ben
Gilman (R-NY) which would have gutted SAFE by allowing the President to
waive any provision of the bill by citing vaguely defined "National
Security" concerns. The amendment, which was the subject of intense debate
by the committee, was defeated on a vote of 13 - 22 (a breakdown of the
vote and links to the text of the Gilman amendment are attached below).
The bill will next be considered by three more House committees --
Commerce, Intelligence, and National Security, who have until early
September to act on the bill.
ADMINISTRATION STACKS DECK, LOSES GAME
In an very unusual move, International Relations Committee Chairman Ben
Gilman (R-NY) invited FBI Assistant Director James Kallstrom and other high
ranking officials from the National Security Agency (NSA), Drug Enforcement
Agency (DEA), and Commerce Department to sit at a specially prepared witness
table to answer "questions" about the SAFE bill, Gilman's amendment, and
the Administration's views. Committees do not usually call witnesses to
testify at markup meetings.
The debate over Gilman's amendment, which also had the support of ranking
Democratic member Rep. Lee Hamilton (D-IN) and other key committee members,
highlighted both the level of support for pro-privacy encryption policy
reform legislation in the Congress as well as the lack of a coherent
Administration position on the issue.
Kallstrom argued that the SAFE Act didn't take into account public safety
concerns. He said that the bill would harm the FBI's efforts to
investigate organized crime, terrorist, and drug trafficking organizations.
Kallstrom later admitted that the law enforcement community "could give a
damn about exports" of encryption but really cared about stopping crime
domestically.
Rep. Sam Gejdenson (D-CT), a long-time advocate for lifting export
controls, argued that un-escrowed encryption is already widely available in
the United States and around the world. No matter what legislation is
adopted, he pointed out, criminals and terrorists will have access to
unbreakable encryption, and law enforcement needs to find ways to respond
to that rather than punishing US industry. At one point, the FBI's
Kallstrom said, "Congressman, you make some irrefutable points."
Trade Subcommittee chair Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) argued that strong
encryption would prevent crime, and that users were in the best position to
protect their proprietary and financial data. In response to the
Administration's call for key recovery, she cited the CDT-organized
cryptographers' report on the security risks posed key recovery designed to
meet law enforcement specifications (see http://www.crypto.com/key_study)
Commerce Undersecratary William Reinsch repeated claims that the
Administration is working with allies to achieve international consensus on
encryption controls. SAFE Act author Rep. Goodlatte, who was allowed to
respond briefly, pointed out that the OECD, the EU, and Germany have all
rejected the US position, and he mentioned a recent article showing Israeli
second-thoughts about its US-inspired export controls.
Despite being given the unusual opportunity to make their case during the
markup, the Administration witnesses had little impact and were faced with
contentious debate from a well-informed committee. For many of the
committee members, it was clear that the debate highlighted
inconsistencies in the Administration policy.
Several members asked why, if encryption is such a threat, the
Administration is not seeking domestic controls on encryption. Others asked
why there was not more widespread criminal use of encryption. Still others
were concerned about the lack of international support for the
Administration. Even Rep. Rothman (D-NJ), who voted for the Gilman
amendment, called the Administration policy "ridiculous."
Even a well-orchestrated Administration effort could not defeat SAFE in the
face of a committee that had taken the time to understand the importance of
the encryption issue. The committee approval of SAFE also sends an
important signal to the Administration and supporters of McCain-Kerrey (S.
909) in the Senate that the House is serious about passing meaningful,
pro-privacy encryption policy reform legislation.
CDT will continue to work to educate the Congress about the importance of
encryption policy reform as the bill moves forward in the legislative
process.
For more information on SAFE (including the text of the Gilman Amendment)
as well as detailed background information on the encryption reform issue,
visit http://www.cdt.org/crypto/
________________________________________________________________________
VOTE COUNT
An amendment offered by Chairman Ben Gilman (R-NY) to cripple SAFE by
allowing the president to restrict the export of strong encryption whenever
he deemed it necessary in the name of broadly defined "national security"
concerns was defeated on a vote of 13 - 22.
Voted for Amdt. Voted against
to weaken bill Amdt. to weaken bill Not Voting
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Bereuter (R-NE) Ackerman (D-NY) Andrews (D-NJ)
Berman (D-CA) Ballenger (R-NC) Burton (R-IN)
Brown (D-OH) Blunt (R-MI) Faleomavaega(D-AS)
Clement (D-TN) Brady (R-TX) Goodling (R-PA)
Danner (D-MO) Campbell (R-CA) Graham (R-SC)
Davis (D-FL) Capps (D-CA) Hyde (R-IL)
Fox (R-PA) Chabot (R-OH) Kim (R-CA)
Gallegly (R-CA) Gejdenson (D-CT) Lantos (D-CA)
Gilman (R-NY) Hastings (D-FL) Martinez (D-CA)
Hamilton (D-IN) Hilliard (D-AL) McHugh (R-NY)
Leach (R-IA) Houghton (R-NY) McKinney (D-GA)
Menendez (D-NJ) King (R-NY) Payne (D-NJ)
Rothman (D-NJ) Luther (D-MN) Salmon (R-AZ)
Manzullo (R-IL)
Moran (R-KS)
Rohrabacher (R-CA)
Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL)
Royce (R-CA)
Sanford (R-SC)
Sherman (D-CA)
Smith, C. (R-NJ)
Wexler (D-FL)
After Gilman lost the vote on his amendment, he quickly called for a voice
vote on the bill. The only clear NO was from Rep. Bereuter (R-NE).
_____________________________________________________________________________
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(3) ABOUT THE CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY/CONTACTING US
The Center for Democracy and Technology is a non-profit public interest
organization based in Washington, DC. The Center's mission is to develop
and advocate public policies that advance democratic values and
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End Policy Post 3.11 07/23/97
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