Sen. Specter and Kerry move to delay crypto legislation

[Declan McCullagh <declan@eff.org>]

Two things:

1. The letter was copied to Mark Heilbrun, and a phone number is helpfully
provided below.
   
2. D'Amato was copied to encourage him to claim jurisdiction over part of
this legislation, yank it into the banking committee, and delay, delay,
delay. 

-Declan
declan@well.com

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                          United States Senate
                     Select Committee on Intelligence
 
                             June 7, 1996
                                                   SSCI #96-2219B
 
 The Honorable Patrick J. Leahy
 United States Senator
 Senate Russell Building, Room 433
 Washington, D.C. 20510-4502
 
 Dear Pat:
 
      We write to express our concerns about legislation you have sponsored
 which would impact directly upon federal encryption policy, including export
 control policy.  Recognizing that American innovation in encryption
 technology is unequaled, we appreciate the need to balance US economic
 competitiveness with the need to safeguard national security interests.  As
 such, it is our belief that this legislation requires careful study and
 reflection and that the Senate and the Congress as a whole should proceed
 with caution until all of the implications of such an initiative are fully
 discerned.  Along these lines, it is our understanding that industry
 representatives are currently meeting with the Administration to discuss new
 policy initiatives to address this issue.  Also, both the Congress and the
 Administration have undertaken to conduct a thorough analysis of a two-year
 congressionally-mandated study on federal encryption policy that was
 facilitated by the National Research Council.  We therefore feel that your
 legislation initiative at this time is premature.
 
      We appreciate your efforts to bring some needed clarity to United
 States policy in this area and wish to keep the lines open for discussion
 and debate on this important issue.  The staff point of contact on this
 issue is our Committee Counsel, Mark Heilbrun, who can be reached at
 224-1700.
                                 Sincerely,
 Arlen Specter                                   J. Robert Kerrey
 Chairman                                        Vice-Chairman
 
 cc:  The Honorable Alfonse D'Amato
      Chairman, Senate Committee on Banking

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