[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 125 (Thursday, September 18, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1797-E1798]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


               COMPUTER SECURITY ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 1997

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                               speech of

                            HON. CURT WELDON

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 16, 1997

  Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to offer my 
support for H.R. 1903, the Computer Security Enhancement Act of 1997. 
As the information revolution continues to rage, the United States and 
specifically this Congress, must begin to make wise and informed policy 
for this fast-paced new era. Sadly, we are somewhat behind business and 
industry in our ability to comprehend the abilities and ramifications 
of information technology. Worse still, we are behind the criminals and 
rogue operatives who would use the technology of the information age 
against us.
  The United States, more than any other country in the world, is 
extremely susceptible to this new, frightening breed of terrorism and 
crime. In March of this year, I chaired a hearing on information 
warfare, the first such hearing ever held in Congress. What I learned 
at the hearing was positively alarming. One witness testified that with 
$1 billion and 20 people, he could shut down the Nation. Another 
witness said that he could accomplish the same task for $100 million. 
While the United States has done a good job to date in developing 
secure information technology systems, its implementation of those 
systems has been desperately lacking. As a result we are left 
unprepared for an information assault that could cripple the Nation.
  For this very reason, the Subcommittee on Military Research and 
Development included an increase in funding for information warfare 
defense and associated programs. Protecting our defense backbone is 
simply not enough, however, and we must begin to implement secure 
system strategies for our private sector companies and civilian 
agencies to thwart the threat of information terrorism. I would like to 
applaud the Science Committee and Chairman Sensenbrenner for their 
efforts to this end.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1903 takes wise and measured steps in an effort to 
develop sound and lasting policy for the information age. As we 
legislate for this era, we must be primarily concerned with the safety 
and security of our Nation, both civilian and defense, both private 
sector and public sector. While I think that we

[[Page E1798]]

all agree that Federal policy regarding the export of our best 
technology needs to be developed in light of the public availability of 
comparable technology outside of the United States, I believe that we 
are also resolute in our pledge to defend our Nation in this frontier 
age. Certainly we should not provide the means of our own destruction 
as some have been so wont to do.
  H.R. 1903 will allow us to measure the quality of foreign encryption 
technology, a central portion of any secure system. That measurement 
with evaluations from the Department of Defense will allow us to 
determine which domestic products can be exported without posing an 
additional threat to national security. Taken in light of global market 
competition, this criteria will strike the delicate balance between 
national security requirements and business needs for the information 
age, a balance that should be paramount in our discussions about 
national security as we enter the next century.
  As we continue our efforts to develop policy in this frontier age, I 
would encourage my colleagues to examine these issues closely, to weigh 
the need for competitiveness against the responsibility to defend our 
Nation from information terrorists. The issues here are as complex as 
the underlying technology, and our willingness to take rhetoric and 
spin at face value without seriously researching the issue will 
ultimately lead to a dangerous imbalance. The Science Committee has set 
a wise course for this policy, and I would encourage others to follow 
and support this measure.
  Again, I would like to thank Chairman Sensenbrenner, Chairwoman 
Morella, and the Science Committee for their efforts and I would yield 
back the balance of my time.

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