Thad Cochran: “Amendment No. 420 was offered by me, and is cosponsored by the distinguished Senator from Illinois, Senator Durbin. It…”

“Amendment No. 420 was offered by me, and is cosponsored by the distinguished Senator from Illinois, Senator Durbin. It seeks to modify the existing export control policy that had been instituted by the administration with respect to the exporting of high-performance or so-called supercomputers. Madam President, on November 14, 1994, President Clinton issued Executive Order 12938, the Emergency Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction, declaring that the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the means of delivering them constitute "an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States," and that he had therefore decided to "declare a national emergency to deal with that threat." The President reaffirmed this Executive order on November 15, 1995, and again on November 11, 1996. We have had several hearings recently on the subject of proliferation in my Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on International Security, Proliferation, and Federal Services. And the distinguished ranking member of the full committee, Senator Levin, is the ranking member of that subcommittee. We have examined cases of proliferation by the People's Republic of China and proliferation by Russia, and I can tell you that the facts-- brought out in open session--are disturbing.”