[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 98 (Monday, July 25, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: July 25, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                   EXPORT ADMINISTRATION ACT OF 1994

                                 ______


                               speech of

                       HON. GEORGE E. BROWN, JR.

                             of california

                     in the house of representives

                        Thursday, July 14, 1994

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 3937) 
     entitled the ``Export Administration Act of 1994:

  Mr. BROWN of California. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of 
H.R. 3937, the Export Administration Act of 1994. This measure affords 
us a historic opportunity to adjust the U.S. export control regime to 
reflect the new geopolitical realities of the post-cold-war era.
  I applaud the combined efforts of the administration and the 
Committees on Foreign Affairs, Armed Services, and others to craft a 
bill that tailors export controls on U.S.-made productions to address 
legitimate threats to our national security. Rather than clinging to 
the lingering mindset of the cold war, we should recognize the 
dramatically different world in which we will live in the coming 
century and how our national policies must be adjusted to keep us 
strong.
  Exports of the products of American ingenuity have become 
increasingly critical to our Nation's economic well-being, and 
therefore to our national security. In this new era, whose outlines we 
can only dimly perceive today, military power will not be enough to 
guarantee our security. We must also free our economic capacities from 
the hindrances that were once necessary to protect our freedom but have 
become relics of a bygone era.
  While elements of our Government attempt to hang onto their former 
roles in the cold war, the economic pace necessary to compete in the 
world market has quickened. Especially in high technology industries 
like electronics, computers, and telecommunications, product cycles 
have moved from decades to years and even months. International and 
interdependent webs of designers, strategists, and manufacturers have 
made delays at the border untenable. Today, our standard of living 
depends on developing, attracting, and keeping industries in the United 
States that can shift gears rapidly and deploy their resources freely. 
In short, the economic world in which the Nation must now operate no 
longer allows for an export control regime left over from the cold war.
  Our commercial sector, and its foreign customers, must be able to 
rely on export controls that are streamlined, can be applied 
consistently and predictably, and limit access to American products 
only to the extent necessary to actually accomplish legitimate national 
security objectives. Countries formerly closed to American industry now 
represent some of the most promising markets for our products, 
particularly those high technology industries like telecommunications 
that can help build sorely needed economic infrastructure.
  While the bill makes great strides toward much-needed reforms, I am 
disappointed that some proposed changes were not accomplished. For 
example, language included in the bill reported by the Foreign Affairs 
Committee to put some commercial communications satellites under the 
Export Administration Act was dropped because of objections from 
another committee. Communications satellites represent a classic 
example of how export controls are sometimes used in a way that 
sacrifices significant U.S. economic interests without any improvement 
in our national security.

  U.S. companies lead the world in the highly competitive 
communications satellite market. But we are slowly giving away this 
industry, which we created, to our foreign competitors by hamstringing 
our companies with export controls. Foreign buyers of United States 
satellites sometimes want to launch them into orbit on foreign launch 
vehicles, such as the Chinese Long March. When U.S. satellites contain 
certain electronic components or propulsion devices, they fall under 
munitions controls administered by the State Department. Even though 
such satellites have already been exported and launched under United 
States Government-approved technology transfer safeguards without any 
possibility of these components being removed or examined by the 
Chinese, the cold war bureaucracy refuses to allow these satellites to 
be treated as dual-use civilian products, rather than as munitions.
  Despite the best efforts of the Foreign Affairs Committee and 
Congresswoman Harman, this unfortunate state of affairs will persist. 
Such satellites can still be exported once a State Department license 
is issued. However, foreign satellite builders use this situation as a 
means of convincing potential customers of U.S. satellite makers that 
they shouldn't buy U.S. satellites by arguing that they could become 
hostage to a protracted, national security-oriented State Department 
regulatory process. I hope that Congress and the administration will 
work together to find a solution that ensures a quick, routine, and 
predictable approval process for the export of all U.S.-made 
satellites, with the application of already-proven technology transfer 
safeguards where necessary.
  On an important related issue, I also want to recognize the 
legitimate concern of our emerging commercial launch industry and the 
adverse impact that nonmarket launch providers could have in the 
absence of launch trade agreements with quantity restraints and pricing 
standards. I would strongly oppose any statutory linkage between 
exports of U.S.-made satellites and these agreements. However, it may 
be prudent to address the need for strict enforcement of commercial 
launch trade agreements as part of any overall reform of our export 
control regime.
  Mr. Chairman, I urge the passage of the bill.

                          ____________________