Mike Thompson: “this has to do with commodity classification. We have had some concern that when people in the business of exporting…”

“this has to do with commodity classification. We have had some concern that when people in the business of exporting items come into the Department of Commerce and they get a different classification for a commodity--in other words, something might be subject to license and they believe it should not be subject to license anymore--they can come in and get that consideration. That is appropriate. That needs to be done, but it needs to be done in a manner which protects the Government and the country's interest from a national security standpoint. The executive branch has traditionally dealt with this issue through interagency agreements. We think they need to be updated. The existing agreement is 5 years old and needs to be updated to create an increased role for the Departments of Defense and State. Both the opponents and supporters of this legislation will send a letter to the administration requesting the issuance of a new Executive order on commodity classification to ensure the participation of the National Security Agency. We believe that with regard to many of these issues, as the administration is trying to staff up and with our discussions with them and among each other, we have realized just how outdated the existing agreement is. We are going to send a letter to them to bring this to their attention further, and suggest they issue an Executive order.”