[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 67 (Friday, May 22, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H3968]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           TECHNOLOGY TRANSFERS JEOPARDIZE NATIONAL SECURITY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Weldon) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise to spend the last few 
moments before we break for the Memorial Day work period to discuss an 
issue that has been in the national news this week and that has 
occupied the minds of most of our colleagues in this body and the other 
body; and that is the issue of proliferation.
  We have seen a lot of discussion in the national media about the most 
recent transfer of technology from American corporations, most 
specifically the Loral Corporation, the Hughes Corporation, to China 
that may, in fact, jeopardize our national security and pose threats to 
us.
  The issue of proliferation, Mr. Speaker, is not a new one. In fact, a 
week and a half ago, on May 13, I did a 40-minute special order on this 
floor where I documented in the public record 37 specific cases over 
the past 6 years of proliferation by Russia and China to Iran, Iraq, to 
India and Pakistan.
  At that time, I said to our colleagues, Mr. Speaker, that we must 
take more aggressive action in imposing sanctions and enforcing 
requirements provided in our arms control agreements.
  This week, Mr. Speaker, we have seen some of the results of that lack 
of inaction in enforcing those arms control agreements. In fact, we 
have seen the escalation of the conflict and the rhetoric and saber 
rattling between India and Pakistan.
  Much of that technology, Mr. Speaker, that both of those Nations now 
have came from both Russia and China. We should have and could have 
stopped that proliferation. Iran and Iraq are both now developing 
medium range missiles. Iran will have one within 12 to 18 months. Again 
that technology came from Russia.
  Again, our action should have been able to stop it. The Congress is 
talking about proliferation. And the White House, through spokesman 
Mike McCurry, has basically said it is a knee-jerk reaction, that the 
Congress is now voting as we did yesterday on the defense authorization 
bill to limit the transfer of technology to China.
  I would remind the White House, Mr. Speaker, that it was back in 
November of last year that this Congress voted overwhelmingly with 
almost 400 votes to force the administration to impose sanctions on 
Russia because of transfers to Iran.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a serious issue, but I want to leave our 
colleagues with two important points. First of all, let us make sure 
that when we impanel this special task force, the select committee, 
after we return from the break, that we do not politicize it.
  The issue is national security. We must focus in a very deliberate 
way on what damage has been caused by the most recent transfer of 
technology by the Loral Corporation to China. We must not allow this 
special select committee to be politicized by either side of the aisle.
  Secondarily, Mr. Speaker, we must remember that, while we must 
investigate whether or not the Chinese government deliberately try to 
acquire this technology and circumvent our laws, we must not rush to 
judgment, because trade with China is critical and important.
  My concern is that we not overreact, overreacting then causing 
further isolation in our relationships with China.
  Mr. Speaker, we saw a situation like this occur just a few short 
years ago when the President initially refused to grant a waiver for a 
visa for Taiwan President Li Teng-hui to come speak at his alma mater 
at Cornell. The day after that rejection by the administration, the 
Congress overwhelmingly voted in both bodies to overturn the President 
and allow President Li Teng-hui to come here, as I think he should have 
been able to do.
  The problem is that we sent mixed signals to China. China read that 
as a deliberate slap in their face. That then partially led to the 
escalation of what could have been a very serious conflict as we sent 
our carrier battle groups up on the straits of Taiwan.
  We do not need another confrontation with China. We must get to the 
bottom of what happened in the Loral technology transfer. We must have 
Members on both sides of the aisle who are serious sit down behind 
closed doors and assess whether or not our security has been 
jeopardized.
  When we are done, if, in fact, it has been jeopardized, we must then 
determine why the administration took the actions they took. We must 
then take steps to deal with the results of what we have found. Until 
that happens, we must reserve our rhetoric; we must make sure that we 
base our decisions on fact.
  I would encourage our colleagues to think carefully about this over 
the break because, when we return in June, this will be the major issue 
that will be the focus of this body and the Nation through the rest of 
this summer.

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