From: jim bell <jimbell@pacifier.com>
Date: Thu, 12 Sep 1996 09:12:28 +0800
To: Voters Telecommunications Watch <cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: ALERT: Call the Commerce committee!  1-800-962-3524
Message-ID: <199609111741.KAA18899@mail.pacifier.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


checking my files and verifying the number this morning, I find that there 
is an active 1-800 number to call Congress.  (Don't know who'se it is, but 
it reaches the Congressional switchboard...)

The Capitol Switchboard can be reached at 1-800-962-3524.



At 12:42 AM 9/11/96 -0400, Voters Telecommunications Watch wrote:
>========================================================================
>
>           SENATE COMMERCE COMMITTEE VOTE TOMORROW IN QUESTION
>       	     WHITE HOUSE STALLING; THE NET CAN SAVE THE VOTE
>
>		OFFICES ARE RECEIVING 'LOTS OF CALLS'
>                MAKE A CALL TO THE COMMERCE COMMITTEE 
>
>	               	 September 11, 1996
>
>      Please widely redistribute this document with this banner intact
>			until September 30, 1996
>
>________________________________________________________________________
>CONTENTS
>	The Latest News
>	What You Can Do Now
>	Background / What To Expect This Week
>	Description of S.1726, Pro-CODE Bill
>	Chronology of Pro-Crypto Legislation
>	For More Information / Supporting Organizations
>
>________________________________________________________________________
>THE LATEST NEWS
>
>Sometimes things work out better than imagined.  This was the feeling
>tonight as I waded through my email from people all over the country that
>called the commerce committee.  This was the feeling as I heard from visitors
>to one Senator's office who, while waiting for a few minutes in the lobby,
>listened to the receptionist take two quick calls from netizens calling
>about the bill.
>
>Receptionist, cutting the caller off: "S.1726?  Yes, I'll pass that along
>to the Senator, thanks.  We've been getting a lot of calls."
>
>Another netizen emailed us saying that he also called his Representative.
>It turns out this Rep. has some friends who have co-sponsored HR 3011, the
>House version of Pro-CODE.  The calls and elevated publicity from this phone
>campaign have convinced him to consider co-sponsoring HR 3011.
>
>This is great, but our success has mobilized the anti-crypto forces
>into action as well.  The Clinton Administration, who has long opposed
>the right of citizens to use non-Clipper encryption, has begun working
>behind the scenes to make sure that the vote on Pro-CODE (S.1726) never
>happens.
>
>To have the Senate Commerce committee go on record that encryption exports
>should be loosened, against the will of the Administration, would be
>an embarrassment to the White House.  They have begun pushing hard to
>pressure Democratic Commerce Committee members to put the brakes on the
>bill, and do everything they can to prevent the vote this Thursday.
>
>To see the business community, the industry, and the public line up the
>Administration would be extremely hard to take and still seem
>credible.
>
>It's crucial that we continue to make noise and ring those phones.  By
>pulling enough favors with members of the Senate Commerce Committee, it's
>possible that the White House could prevent this vote from happening.
>
>WE MUST NOT LET THAT HAPPEN.  Appropriately forward this to everyone you
>know until the expiration listed above.  Go to work, bug your neighbor
>in the cubicle or office next to you.  Have they called yet?  Bug them
>until they do.  Call the rest of the members you haven't gotten around to
>yet.
>
>And don't forget to sign the petition at http://www.crypto.com/petition/ !
>
>[Rest of alert is the same from last time]
>________________________________________________________________________
>WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW
>
>It's crucial that you call the Commerce committee members below and
>urge them to pass S.1726 out of committee without amendments.  (This is
>also known as a "clean" bill.)  Any opportunity for amendments (even if
>they are good) opens us up to the possibility of hostile amendments
>that could restrict the use of encryption even further than today's
>abysmal state.  It could even prohibit the use of encryption without
>Clipper Chip-like key 'escrow' technology, which includes built-in
>surveillance and monitoring functionality.
>
>1. Call/Fax the members of the Senate Commerce committee and urge
>   them to pass S.1726 out of committee "cleanly".  Do not use email,
>   as it is not likely to be looked at in time to make a difference
>   for the markup on September 12th.
>
>   Use the sample communique and directory listing below to make it a
>   simple TWO MINUTE task.
>
>2. Sign the petition to support strong encryption at
>   http://www.crypto.com/petition/   !  Join other cyber-heroes as
>   Phil Zimmermann, Matt Blaze, Bruce Schneier, Vince Cate, Phil Karn, and
>   others who have also signed.
>
>3. Between now and Wed. September 12, it is crucial that you call all
>   these members of Congress.
>
>      P ST Name and Address           Phone           Fax
>      = == ========================   ==============  ==============
>      D SC Hollings, Ernest F.        1-202-224-6121  1-202-224-4293
>      D MA Kerry, John F.             1-202-224-2742  1-202-224-8525
>      D HI Inouye, Daniel K.          1-202-224-3934  1-202-224-6747
>      D KY Ford, Wendell H.           1-202-224-4343  1-202-224-0046
>      D WV Rockefeller, John D.       1-202-224-6472  1-202-224-7665
>      D LA Breaux, John B.            1-202-224-4623  1-202-228-2577
>      D NV Bryan, Richard H.          1-202-224-6244  1-202-224-1867
>      D ND Dorgan, Byron L.           1-202-224-2551  1-202-224-1193
>      D NE Exon, J. J.                1-202-224-4224  1-202-224-5213
>      D OR Wyden, Ron*                1-202-224-5244  1-202-228-2717
>
>      R SD Pressler, Larry*           1-202-224-5842  1-202-224-1259
>      R MT Burns, Conrad R.(*sponsor) 1-202-224-2644  1-202-224-8594
>      R AK Stevens, Ted               1-202-224-3004  1-202-224-2354
>      R AZ McCain, John               1-202-224-2235  1-202-228-2862
>      R WA Gorton, Slade              1-202-224-3441  1-202-224-9393
>      R MS Lott, Trent*               1-202-224-6253  1-202-224-2262
>      R TX Hutchison, Kay Bailey      1-202-224-5922  1-202-224-0776
>      R ME Snowe, Olympia             1-202-224-5344  1-202-224-1946
>      R MO Ashcroft, John*            1-202-224-6154  1-202-228-0998
>      R TN Frist, Bill                1-202-224-3344  1-202-228-1264
>      R MI Abraham, Spencer           1-202-224-4822  1-202-224-8834
>
>	* supporter or cosponsor.  The bill also enjoys broad bi-partisan
>	support from members not on the committee including Senators Leahy
>	(D-VT) and Murray (D-WA).
>
>4. Here is a sample conversation:
>
>   SAMPLE PHONE CALL
>	You:<ring ring>
>	Sen:Hello, Senator Mojo's office!
>
>	You:
>
>SAY     I'm calling to urge the Senator to pass S.1726, the 
>THIS-> 	Burns/Leahy/Pressler bill, S.1726 when the committee votes on
>	it on Thursday.  It's critical to the future of privacy, security,
>	and electronic commerce on the internet.
>
>	Sen:Ok, thanks!<click>
>
>   IF THEY SAY
>	"The Senator has concerns about the bill",
>   please answer,
>   	"Please try to work these issues out as it moves to the Senate floor,
>	 but passage out of committee will send an important signal to
>	 the Administration."
>
>5. To help us measure the effectiveness of the campaign, WE NEED TO HEAR FROM
>   YOU.  Please tell us who you called, and how they sounded.  We'll be
>   passing this information to folks in D.C. who can help apply pressure
>   where needed.
>
> 	$ Mail vtw@vtw.org
>	Subject: I called so-and-so
>
>	Hey, I called Sen. Mojo.  He sounded iffy, call in the
>	reinforcements.
>	^D
>
>6. Forward this to your friends and colleagues in appropriate forums
>   until the date of expiration at the top.  Forward a copy of this to
>   your Internet Service Provider as well, and ask them to put the following
>   text in their message of the day (motd), or on their WWW page:
>
>	ALERT ALERT ALERT ALERT ALERT ALERT ALERT ALERT ALERT ALERT ALERT
>
>	The U.S. Senate will be voting on a proposal to encourage
>	better security on the Internet on Thu Sep. 12th.  Your help is
>	needed to call Congress.  See http://www.crypto.com/ for more
>	details.
>
>	ALERT ALERT ALERT ALERT ALERT ALERT ALERT ALERT ALERT ALERT ALERT
>
>________________________________________________________________________
>BACKGROUND / WHAT TO EXPECT THIS WEEK
>
>For the past 3 years, Cyber-Rights Activists, citizens, and industry
>leaders have been working hard to reform US encryption policy.
>
>Support has been building behind several legislative proposals this
>year because they send a clear signal to the Administration about the
>need for security and privacy in the Information Age.  The digital
>revolution is currently being held hostage by the White House's Cold
>War restrictions on privacy-enhancing encryption technology.
>
>Now, with Congress less than a month away from adjournment, everyone
>who supports encryption and privacy is working to see this bill leave
>committee in order to send a clear message to the White House that they
>are on the wrong side of the encryption issue.  Although this bill may
>not become law this year, its passage out of committee will be a
>landmark event that will clearly tell the White House that the
>Congress, the public, and the computer industry care about security and
>privacy, and need strong, reliable encryption technology in order to
>make the Internet a viable platform for commerce, education, and
>democracy.
>
>Success for our side is not certain, and the next week is not without risks.
>On September 12th, the Senate Commerce committee will hold a "markup",
>where the bill is examined, voted on, and if there are enough votes,
>passed out of committee.  Two things could happen:
>
>	-the committee could pass the bill as written,
>	-the committee could pass the bill with amendments.
>
>Any amendments are not likely to be friendly, and in particular, quiet
>sources have told privacy activists that the Clinton Administration has been
>readying a legislative assault on your right to use encryption for several
>weeks now.  A Clipper-like amendment could be attached to the bill if
>our side does not have enough votes to block all amendments.
>
>It is crucial that all netizens who consider privacy and security important
>take a moment to call members of the Commerce Committee right now and
>urge them to vote S.1726 out of committee without amendments.
>
>________________________________________________________________________
>DESCRIPTION OF S.1726, PRO-CODE BILL
>
>Privacy-enhancing encryption technology is currently under heavy restrictions
>kept in place by the White House.  Encryption that is currently allowed to
>be exported is not sufficient to protect confidential information.  This
>policy acquires an "Alice-in-Wonderland" quality when one realizes that  
>strong encryption products are available abroad both for sale and for free
>download off the Internet.
>
>The Pro-CODE Act resolves to:
>
>1.  Allow for the *unrestricted* export of "mass-market" or "public-domain"
>    encryption programs, including such products as Pretty Good Privacy and
>    popular World Wide Web browsers.
>
>2.  Requires the Secretary of Commerce to allow the less restricted export
>    of other encryption technologies if products of similar strength are
>    generally available outside the United States, roughly up to DES
>    strength.
>
>3.  Prohibits the federal government from imposing mandatory key-escrow
>    encryption policies on the domestic market and limiting the authority
>    of the Secretary of Commerce to set standards for encryption products.
>
>________________________________________________________________________
>CHRONOLOGY OF PRO-CRYPTO LEGISLATION
>
>9/12/96 (scheduled)
>Senate Commerce committee will hold markup of S.1726 and hopefully pass it
>out of committee with no amendments.
>
>7/25/96: Full Senate Commerce committee holds positive hearings on S.1726.
>FBI Director Louis Freeh testifies along with many cyber-luminaries.
>Hearings are cybercast Internet Cyber-Rights activists with HotWired
>and WWW.Crypto.Com.  You can see the photos, read the testimony, and
>listen to the audio transcript at http://www.crypto.com/events/072596/
>
>6/26/96: Senate subcommittee holds positive hearings on S.1726.  Hearings are
>cybercast Internet Cyber-Rights activists with HotWired and WWW.Crypto.Com.
>You can see the photos, read the testimony, and listen to the audio
>transcript at http://www.crypto.com/events/062696/
>
>5/2/96: Bi-partisan group of Senators introduce Pro-CODE Act, which would
>free public-domain encryption software (such as PGP) for export, free much
>commercial encryption for export, and reduce the government's ability to
>push Clipper proposals down the throats of an unwilling public.  Original
>sponsors include: Senators Burns (R-MT), Dole (R-KS), Faircloth (R-NC),
>Leahy (D-VT), Murray (D-WA), Pressler (R-SD), and Wyden (D-OR).
>
>3/5/96: Sen. Leahy (D-VT) and Rep. Goodlatte (R-VA) announce encryption bills
>(S.1587/H.R.3011) that significantly relax export restrictions on products
>with encryption functionality in them, as well as free public domain software
>such as PGP (Pretty Good Privacy).
>
>________________________________________________________________________
>FOR MORE INFORMATION / SUPPORTING ORGANIZATIONS
>
>There are many excellent resources online to get up to speed on crypto
>including the following WWW sites:
>
>http://www.crypto.com       http://www.privacy.org    http://www.eff.org    
>http://www.cdt.org          http://www.epic.org       http://www.vtw.org
>
>Please visit them often.
>
>The following organizations have signed onto this alert:
>
>	Center for Democracy and Technology
>	Electronic Frontier Foundation
>	Electronic Privacy Information Center
>	Voters Telecommunications Watch
>
>________________________________________________________________________
>End alert
>========================================================================
>
>
Jim Bell
jimbell@pacifier.com