Political Quotes

“I rise in support of S. 149, the Export Administration Act of 2001. Consideration and passage of this bill are essential for the advancement of our national security, our foreign policy, and our economic interests. I am very excited that today is here. This is the culmination of a lot of effort on the part of Senator Johnson, myself, Senator Sarbanes, and Senator Gramm. Almost 3 years ago now, Senator Johnson and I, as chairman and ranking member of the International Finance Trade Subcommittee of the Banking Committee, were given the task of looking at the Export Administration Act to see if it could be renewed. It had expired in 1994, and there was recognition that there was a huge gap in our national security. That was brought to light a lot, of course, by the Cox commission, which looked at some of the ways China was stealing secrets from the United States. A very extensive document during the original part of this process was a top secret document, and later a public version was put out; it brought a lot of attention to the issue. There had been 12 previous attempts to renew the Export Administration Act. They had failed. Only one version in the House had even gotten out of committee. It is an interesting bill because here in the Senate there are 100 Senators who are concerned about national security. There are also 100 Senators who are concerned about the economic interests of the United States.”