export rules obsolete, says U.S. official

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            Supercomputer export rules obsolete, says U.S. official
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      Copyright ) 1997 Nando.net
      Copyright ) 1997 The Associated Press
      
   WASHINGTON (June 11, 1997 5:56 p.m. EDT) -- A Commerce Department
   official denied that Clinton administration export policies let U.S.
   supercomputers be used by hostile nations for weapons and said old
   controls are now unworkable.
   
   The president's 1995 decision to loosen export controls on
   supercomputers and other high-tech products recognized that technology
   is advancing at lightning speed and already is available throughout
   the world, William A. Reinsch, Commerce's undersecretary for export
   administration, said Wednesday.
   
   Harsher restrictions on the export of the most powerful computers
   would be of limited benefit, he said.
   
   "Efforts to control at lower levels will not only be unsuccessful,
   they will limit our ability to widely disseminate American standards
   and software and damage our companies economically," Reinsch told the
   Senate Governmental Affairs subcommittee on international security,
   proliferation and federal services.
   
   "When President Clinton took office he was urged by congressional
   leaders of both parties to make long-overdue reforms in this area,"
   Reinsch said. "I believe our efforts to do that have been a model of
   good government decision making."
   
   Sen. Thad Cochran, subcommittee chairman, retorted that Russia's
   premier nuclear weapons labs have five American supercomputers, and at
   least 46 are used in China.
   
   "The good news is that some of these major scientific technological
   institutes across China may not be involved in developing weapons of
   mass destruction and missile delivery systems for China and its
   clients. But some surely are," Cochran, R-Miss., said. "And they're
   doing this work courtesy of what appears to be, at best, a deeply
   flawed U.S. export-control policy."
   
   The United States restricts export of fast-calculating supercomputers
   to nonallies. Military uses to which supercomputers can be put are
   testing nuclear weapons, building accurate missiles and developing
   code-breaking technology.
   
   Reinsch said the Justice Department is investigating three sales of
   supercomputers overseas, two in Russia and one to the Chinese Academy
   of Sciences. The sales are suspected of violating U.S. regulations
   designed to keep U.S. technology from falling into the wrong hands.
   
   Commerce officials also are checking into whether U.S. supercomputers
   sold to customers in Dubai have been resold to Iran, he said.
   
   Two Republican House members, Rep. Henry Hyde of Illinois and Rep.
   Tillie K. Fowler of Florida, have demanded a Justice Department
   investigation into sales of sensitive equipment to China as part of
   its inquiry into foreign campaign contributions to Democrats.
   
   In a May 22 letter to Attorney General Janet Reno, the lawmakers said
   the situation raises questions about whether campaign contributions
   from Asian donors led to the sales.
   
   In response to a question from Cochran, Reinsch said he didn't think
   the Commerce Department had been asked to turn over information as
   part of such an investigation, "but we will certainly turn over to
   them whatever they ask for."
   
   By CASSANDRA BURRELL, Associated Press Writer
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