THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release August 31, 2000
TEXT OF A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT
TO THE CHAIRMEN AND RANKING MEMBERS OF
THE HOUSE AND SENATE COMMITTEES ON ARMED SERVICES,
THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS,
AND THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON BANKING, HOUSING,
AND URBAN AFFAIRS
August 30, 2000
In accordance with the provisions of section 1211(d) of the National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1998 (Public Law 105-85) (the
"Act"), I hereby notify you of my decision to establish a new level for the
notification procedure for digital computers set forth in section 1211(a)
of the Act. The new level will be 28,000 Millions of Theoretical
Operations per Second (MTOPS). In accordance with the provisions of
section 1211(e), I hereby notify you of my decision to remove Estonia from
the list of countries covered under section 1211(b). The attached report
provides the rationale supporting these decisions and fulfills the
requirements of sections 1211(d) and (e) of the Act. I have made these
changes based on the recommendation of the Departments of Defense,
Commerce, State, and Energy.
Section 1211(d) provides that any adjustment to the control level described
in 1211(a) cannot take effect until 180 days after receipt of this report
by the Congress. Section 1211(e) provides that the removal of a country
from the group of countries covered by section 1211(b) cannot take effect
until 120 days after the Congress is notified. Given the rapid pace of
technological change in the information technology industry, I believe
these time periods are too long. I hope that we can work together to
reduce both notification periods to 30 days.
I have also directed the Secretary of Commerce to adjust the licensing
requirements for Tier 2 and Tier 3 countries. The new level above which an
individual license will be required for exports to Tier 2 countries is
45,000 MTOPS. In addition, I have decided to implement a single licensing
level for Tier 3: the new level above which an individual license will be
required for exports to Tier 3 countries is 28,000 MTOPS. The
aforementioned licensing adjustments will take place immediately.
I look forward to working cooperatively with the Congress on these issues.
Sincerely,
WILLIAM J. CLINTON
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