---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Tue, 29 Jul 1997 10:19:36 -0700 (PDT) From: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com> To: fight-censorship-announce@vorlon.mit.edu Subject: Majority in house support SAFE encryption bill, from SPAlert [From an alert put out by the Software Publishers Association. (I skipped the press conference.) --Declan] ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Encryption --------------- MAJORITY IN HOUSE SUPPORT PASSAGE OF ENCRYPTION BILL Rep. Bob Goodlate (R-Va.) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) will hold a press conference in room HC7 in the U.S. Capitol today to announce that a majority in the House of Representatives have signed on as co-sponsors of H.R. 695, the Security and Freedom through Encryption (SAFE) Act. SPA today called on the Clinton administration to immediately cease its opposition to the SAFE Act, which allows the free export of encryption products while providing American businesses with the tools needed to protect corporate data. "Forty years ago, John F. Kennedy wrote 'Profiles In Courage' on political leaders with the moral and political courage to resist the easy path and, instead, make difficult choices in the national interest. Today, members of the House passed this test of courage with flying colors," said Ken Wasch, SPA president. "On the other side of Capitol Hill, however, the ghost of J. Edgar Hoover lurks in the cloakrooms of the Senate. Rather than taking a courageous stand for America, some Senators would rather follow the administration's play book, trading personal freedoms for what they themselves admit is only marginal improvement." "House members have clearly studied the issue and recognize that burdening high-tech industries with oppressive regulation and restrictive export controls will only harm America and law enforcement in the long run. Law enforcement concerns cannot be addressed by mandating technology but by adopting policies ensuring technical progress and innovation occurs in the United States." The SAFE Act now proceeds to the Commerce, Intelligence, and National Security Committees, all of which have until September to vote on the legislation. For full text of the release, visit http://www.spa.org/gvmnt/releases/hmajority.htm. For access to Rep. Goodlatte's Web page regarding the SAFE Act, visit http://www.house.gov/goodlatte/encryption.htm. For full text of SPA's statement following the SAFE Act's passage by the House Committee on International Relations, visit http://www.spa.org/gvmnt/releases/encryptpr.htm. For further information, contact Lauren Hall at (202) 452-1600, ext. 313, or lhall@spa.org.