At 03:55 AM 7/23/97 -0400, Declan McCullagh wrote:

Then there were the cows. Again, I'm not making this up.

Where there's bull, there's cows...

the president has said he'll veto any pro-crypto bill that comes across his desk... Yet more evidence that, while Clinton doesn't have the fiscal responsibility of some conservatives, he's certainly no liberal.

On the other hand, Secretary Cohen gives a marvelous explanation of why all government employees should use GAK on their own communications, or at least any who handle material relevant to National Security. [*See below] No point in bothering the rest of us when the spies work for him...

Excerpt from Secretary of Defense William Cohen's letter to Congress, dated July 21, 1997: It is also important to note that the Department of Defense relies on the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the apprehension and prosecution of spies. Sadly, there have been over 60 espionage convictions of federal employees over the last decade. While these individuals represent a tiny minority of government employees, the impact of espionage activities on our nation's security can be enormous. As the recent arrests of Nicholson, Pitts, and Kim clearly indicate, espionage remains a very serious problem. Any policies that detract from the FBI's ability to perform its vital counterintelligence function, including the ability to perform wiretaps, inevitably detract from the security of the Department of Defense and the nation...

[*Below]

Gilman's amendment offered today: [....] National security shall include, but not be limited to, the ability of law enforcement agencies, including Federal, State, and local agencies, to combat espionage, terrorism, illicit drugs, kidnapping, or other criminal acts, or otherwise would involve the potential for loss of human life.

And fortunately defeated, though an appalling number of Committeecritters voted _for_ it. # Thanks; Bill # Bill Stewart, +1-415-442-2215 stewarts@ix.netcom.com # You can get PGP outside the US at ftp.ox.ac.uk/pub/crypto/pgp # (If this is a mailing list or news, please Cc: me on replies. Thanks.)