THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
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For Immediate Release October
27, 2000
STATEMENT BY THE PRESS SECRETARY
The President yesterday announced his intent to appoint ten members to
the National Commission on the Use of Offsets in Defense Trade, and to a
parallel President?s Council on Offsets in Commercial Trade. This
announcement follows the concurrence of Congressional leaders in the
President?s proposed Commission appointments earlier this week. The
President will shortly issue an executive order formalizing the
establishment of the Commission and Council, which will have identical
membership.
?Offsets? are conditions that a foreign government often negotiates with
a U.S. company seeking to export a major defense or commercial system to
its country, under which the country?s firms (a) participate in the
production of the system and/or its subsystems, or (b) obtain other
technological or economic benefits from the U.S. exporter. Foreign
governments frequently negotiate offsets in connection with the import of
U.S. aerospace systems (e.g., military or commercial aircraft), and
sometimes in connection with the import of U.S. goods and services in other
high-tech industries, such as power generation and telecommunications.
Establishment of the Commission is required by the Defense Offsets
Disclosure Act of 1999. The purpose of the Commission and the parallel
Council is to review and report to Congress and the President on the
economic effects of offsets, including their impact on trade, employment,
and technological capabilities of U.S. firms and foreign firms in the
aerospace industry and its supplier industries, and in other high-tech
industries. The Commission and Council will also examine offsets? impact
on U.S. national security.
Commission and Council members include Jacob J. Lew, Director of the
Office of Management and Budget (chair of the Commission); William S.
Cohen, Secretary of Defense; Alexis M. Herman, Secretary of Labor;
Madeleine K. Albright, Secretary of State; Robert L. Mallett, Deputy
Secretary of Commerce; R. Thomas Buffenbarger, International President of
the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers; Philip
M. Condit, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Boeing Company;
Vance D. Coffman, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of
Lockheed Martin Corporation; David C. Mowery, Professor of Business at the
University of California at Berkeley; and Ann R. Markusen, Professor of
Planning and Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. An additional
member, representing a U.S. company that specializes in international
investment, has been approved by the President and is currently being
vetted through the Presidential appointments process.
The first meeting of the Commission and Council is being scheduled, and
will be open to the public. Further information on the Commission and
Council, including the upcoming meetings, will be posted on the Commission
web site (http://www.offsets.brtrc.net) starting the week of October 30.
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