 29 August 1997
 Source: C4I News

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 Weldon Says Encryption Bill `Dead on Arrival' 

 A key member of the House National Security Committee (HNSC) said that a bill 
 loosening export controls on U.S. encryption technology is "dead on arrival." 

 "I'm not going to support something being ramrodded down our throats, " Rep.
 Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) told C4I NEWS in a recent telephone interview. 

 The HNSC has until Sept. 12 to issue recommendations on the bill. 

 Introduced by Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), the bill passed muster with the House
 Judiciary Committee in May and the House International Relations Committee on
 July 25. The National Security Agency (NSA) is opposed to the bill. 

 Currently, the House Commerce, National Security and Intelligence committees are
 considering it. 

 "It is important to understand that the Goodlatte bill would directly threaten
 National Security," William Crowell, deputy director of the NSA, said in a July 30
 HNSC hearing. Crowell told the committee the bill will harm the intelligence
 community's analysis of foreign communications needed to avert wars and will
 hinder the arrest of terrorists, spies and drug traffickers. 

 Goodlatte's bill, the Security and Freedom through Encryption (SAFE) Act (H.R.
 695) had about 250 representatives as cosponsors, but some have dropped their
 advocacy after learning the bill loosened export restrictions, not tightened them,
 Weldon said. 

 Ironically, more than half of the cosponsors of the Goodlatte bill voted for the
 Spence/Dellums amendment to the defense bill, which nixed the sale of Cray
 supercomputers to Russia, Weldon said. 

 In a "Dear Colleague" letter in June, Rep. Gerald Solomon (R- N.Y.), chairman of
 the House Rules Committee, wrote, "The Goodlatte bill does not represent a
 compromise between the needs of industry and the legitimate law enforcement and
 international security needs of the American people." In a similar letter in May,
 Solomon and Rep. Benjamin Gilman (R-N.Y.), chairman of the Foreign Affairs
 Committee, wrote, "Rep. Goodlatte's bill will effectively decontrol all exports of
 commercial software encryption and make it extremely difficult to maintain
 controls on encryption hardware without revealing sensitive national security
 information. The uncontrolled spread of encryption will seriously undermine key
 recovery initiative designed to help law enforcement and national security." 

 Weldon said Goodlatte's bill will not reach the House floor because of Solomon's
 opposition. 

 But supporters say the bill will allow U.S. software companies to compete with
 foreign companies in developing strong encryption technology. At the July 30
 hearing, Thomas Parenty, director of data/communications for Sybase, Inc.
 [SYBS], testified that the bill would help America's "national and economic
 security." 

 "Unless the current unilateral U.S. export restrictions are changed to allow the use
 of strong encryption, American individuals and businesses will not be active
 participants in this new networked world of commerce--let alone continue to be
 the leaders in its development," Parenty said. " Furthermore, American companies
 will no longer be providing the world with answers to their security problems.
 Instead foreign nations will." 

 Parenty appeared on behalf of Sybase and the Business Software Alliance, which
 promotes the growth of the software industry. 

 U.S. law now allows companies to apply for export licenses for products with up
 to 56-bit encryption capabilities. The companies must prove, however, that they
 will build "key recovery" into future products and such 56-bit licenses are hard to
 receive, he said. Crowell, the NSA deputy director, testified that "key recovery," a
 feature allowing users to regain access to their encrypted data when encryption
 keys are lost or damaged or destroyed, is necessary in any "key management
 infrastructure." 

 Parenty testified that the 56-bit U.S. export standard ignores the reality of stronger
 encryption being used across the world, including encryption using 112 and
 128-bit keys. Six foreign companies in Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, the United
 Kingdom, Ireland and Australia have developed "add-on" products that allow any
 U.S. user with a Web browser to download the companies' 128-bit encryption
 technology, Parenty testified. 

 But Crowell testified that "serious users of security products don't use free
 security products from the Internet." 

 Unlike Crowell, Weldon is unsure whether "key recovery" is an answer to the
 security issue posed by loosening export restrictions on encryption. "I don't like
 the idea of government controlling business," Weldon said. "You don't want
 government breathing down the backs of every company. I do agree there needs
 to be a process." 

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