From: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>
Date: Wed, 30 Jul 1997 01:41:47 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Majority in house support SAFE encryption bill, from SPAlert
Message-ID: <Pine.GSO.3.95.970729102007.25915J-100000@well.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain





---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 29 Jul 1997 10:19:36 -0700 (PDT)
From: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>
To: fight-censorship-announce@vorlon.mit.edu
Subject: Majority in house support SAFE encryption bill, from SPAlert

[From an alert put out by the Software Publishers Association. (I skipped
the press conference.) --Declan]


---------- Forwarded message ----------

Encryption
---------------
MAJORITY IN HOUSE SUPPORT PASSAGE OF ENCRYPTION BILL
Rep. Bob Goodlate (R-Va.) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) will hold a press
conference in room HC7 in the U.S. Capitol today to announce that a
majority in the House of Representatives have signed on as co-sponsors of
H.R. 695, the Security and Freedom through Encryption (SAFE) Act.  SPA
today called on the Clinton administration to immediately cease its
opposition to the SAFE Act, which allows the free export of encryption
products while providing American businesses with the tools needed to
protect corporate data.

"Forty years ago, John F. Kennedy wrote 'Profiles In Courage' on political
leaders with the moral and political courage to resist the easy path and,
instead, make difficult choices in the national interest.  Today, members
of the House passed this test of courage with flying colors," said Ken
Wasch, SPA president.  "On the other side of Capitol Hill, however, the
ghost of J. Edgar Hoover lurks in the cloakrooms of the Senate.  Rather
than taking a courageous stand for America, some Senators would rather
follow the administration's play book, trading personal freedoms for what
they themselves admit is only marginal improvement."

"House members have clearly studied the issue and recognize that burdening
high-tech industries with oppressive regulation and restrictive export
controls will only harm America and law enforcement in the long run.  Law
enforcement concerns cannot be addressed by mandating technology but by
adopting policies ensuring technical progress and innovation occurs in the
United States."

The SAFE Act now proceeds to the Commerce, Intelligence, and National
Security Committees, all of which have until September to vote on the
legislation.

For full text of the release, visit
http://www.spa.org/gvmnt/releases/hmajority.htm.

For access to Rep. Goodlatte's Web page regarding the SAFE Act, visit
http://www.house.gov/goodlatte/encryption.htm.

For full text of SPA's statement following the SAFE Act's passage by the
House Committee on International Relations, visit
http://www.spa.org/gvmnt/releases/encryptpr.htm.

For further information, contact Lauren Hall at (202) 452-1600, ext. 313,
or lhall@spa.org.