[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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