Computer export limitations eased. (Insider Report).

President Bush informed congressional leaders on January 2nd that he was easing Cold War restrictions on exporting of high-speed computers to China, Russia, India, Pakistan, and other countries classified as "Tier 3" under federal policy. Under the administration's new, more lenient standards, the performance threshold for exports to these countries will be raised from 85,000 MTOPS (millions of theoretical operations per second) to 190,000 MTOPS. (In contrast, a typical home computer sold in retail stores today is capable of about 2,100 MTOPS.) Computers performing above the limit require federal licenses and prior government review before being approved for export.

A White House fact sheet claimed: "The President's decision will promote national security, enhance the effectiveness of our export control system and ease unnecessary regulatory burdens on both government and industry." In easing restrictions, Mr. Bush was following in the footsteps of his predecessor, who had revised U.S. export controls on high-performance computers six times since 1993. A fact sheet issued by the Clinton State Department on January 10, 2001, explaining the last revision, used language almost identical to that of the Bush administration fact sheet: "The President's action will promote our national security, enhance the effectiveness of our export control system and ease unnecessary regulatory burdens on both government and industry." The Clinton administration fact sheet also noted: "Clinton makes short-term changes, will propose further steps by Bush."

Stephen Bryen, director of the Bethesda, Maryland-based Aurora Defense, strongly objected to the policy change. According to the January 3rd Washington Times, Bryen warned: "We're putting our fleet at risk because tactical communications are all encrypted. This sort of thing creates real dangers b cause the Chinese can now listen."

Gary Milhollin, director of the Washington-based Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms, was quoted by the Times as saying: "This is basically the computer lobby getting its way again, as it has been doing under the Clinton administration for the last eight years." Milhollin also observed, "They're seeking the same campaign contributions that the Clinton people did and they're doing the same thing to get them."

Though Mr. Milhollin did not name any specific contributors to the Clinton campaign, he no doubt had in mind such contributors as Loral CEO Bernard Schwartz, who donated $632,000 to the DNC during the 1995-96 election cycle. (See "Communist China's Road to the White House" in our October 12, 1998 issue.)