[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 108 (Monday, July 30, 2001)]
[House]
[Pages H4786-H4787]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EXPORT ADMINISTRATION ACT EXTENSION
Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill
(H.R. 2602) to extend the Export Administration Act until November 20,
2001.
The Clerk read as follows:
H.R. 2602
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. EXTENSION OF THE EXPORT ADMINISTRATION ACT OF
1979.
Section 20 of the Export Administration Act of 1979 (50
U.S.C. App. 2419) is amended by striking ``August 20, 2001''
and inserting ``November 20, 2001''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Illinois (Mr. Hyde) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde).
General Leave
Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks
on H.R. 2602 and include extraneous material.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Illinois?
There was no objection.
Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2602, the extension of the
Export Administration Act of 1979, a measure approved on a voice vote
last week by the Committee on International Relations.
Enactment of this measure is intended to reauthorize the existing
Export Administration Act for a 3-month period, through November 20 of
this year, permitting Congress to fashion a comprehensive rewrite of
this 21-year-old statute.
The Export Administration Act was extended for 1 year in the 106th
Congress, through August 20 of this year; and it is now clear in the
final week of our current session that a major EAA reform measure will
not be enacted before that date.
The prompt enactment of this stopgap authorization will, however,
enable the Bureau of Export Administration of the Department of
Commerce to continue to administer and enforce our export control
system, and in particular, to protect licensing information.
I would also point out to my colleagues that any lapse in the current
EAA authorities would mean an automatic reduction in the level of fines
for criminal and administrative sanctions against individuals and
companies found to be in violation of our export control regulations.
A comprehensive EAA reform measure, S. 149, the Export Administration
Act of 2001, is expected to be placed on the Senate floor schedule
later this week or shortly after we return from the August recess, and
the Committee on International Relations will consider a very similar
version of this bill on Wednesday, August 1.
I would urge my colleagues to support this important stopgap
authorization measure to maintain the integrity of our Nation's export
control system.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
First, I want to commend my friend, the distinguished chairman of the
Committee on International Relations, for his leadership on this issue.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this bill. The current
Export Administration Act will expire on August 20. On that day, the
ability of the United States to implement dual use export controls will
come to an end.
The Senate has not yet acted on its legislation on this matter, and
it is highly unlikely that it will do so before September. We are
slated to mark up in the Committee on International Relations a version
of the Senate bill later this week, but it will not go through the
Committee on Armed Services, nor will it reach the House floor prior to
September.
The authority to maintain export controls, Mr. Speaker, can be
continued under an executive order, as was done in recent years. But
the lack of statutory authority will compromise the administration's
ability to implement fully controls on militarily-useful goods and
technology.
Obviously, more time is needed to enact a new bill. Our temporary
legislation will accomplish bridging this gap by extending statutory
authority until November, 2001. This is the only responsible course of
action, given the circumstances, and I urge all of my colleagues to
support this legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer).
Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman's courtesy in
yielding time to me to speak on this legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I do appreciate the opportunity we have to have an
extension of the current statutory provisions. I hope that, as we take
the time to reexamine this, we look at the long-term sweep of this
legislation.
{time} 1415
I have had some great concerns myself that there may be less here
than meets the eye. There is an opportunity now across the world for
people to buy a computer product that is far more powerful than was
used to generate the hydrogen bomb, for instance.
We have had situations where American enterprises have been hamstrung
by slow-moving bureaucracy on the Federal level that cannot keep pace
with the rapid changing technology. There are jokes at times about
hand-held devices that teenagers have that could potentially have been
subjected to this legislation in times past. I think we have to be
very, very careful about how we craft this legislation. There are
opportunities for us to simply divert business to other countries to
hamstring American enterprise that in the long term will just encourage
the development of this technology and help finance the technology in
other countries while it undermines the potential for development here
at home.
I hope that over the course of the 6 months we can use this
opportunity to review the impact we have had over the course of the
history of this legislation and to really ask ourselves whether or not
we are being fair in terms of American industry and if it will have the
intended consequences. But if we move forward, I hope that the
leadership of our committee, under the able chairmanship of the
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde) and the gentleman from California
(Mr. Lantos) will make sure the tools are available for the
administration to be able to effectively administer it so that we do
not get caught in a hammerlock and be unable to make sure it works as
properly intended.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his thoughtful
remarks.
[[Page H4787]]
Mr. Speaker, I have no additional requests for time, and I yield back
the balance of my time.
Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California (Mr.
Lantos) for his tremendous contribution to this and other legislation
before our committee.
Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back
the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Miller of Florida). The question is on
the motion offered by the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde) that the
House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2602.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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