House crypto-vote echoes classified briefing (plus: COWS!)

[Bill Stewart]

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 at ix.netcom.com
# You can get PGP outside the US at ftp.ox.ac.uk/pub/crypto/pgp
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