I still believe that we must do our best to make sure the American people are as safe as they can be. But it just may be that we can no longer protect people by keeping strong encryption under wraps. We have debated this issue for over two years now. To my dismay, not one legislative proposal has surfaced that would solve the law enforcement dilemma. At the same time, our country leads the world in the production of computer hardware and software.
Technology is now the engine that drives the global economy.
We must not sit idly by and let American companies lose their edge in the world market because they can't deliver the kind of secure products that customers demand. Mr. Chairman, I commend you for taking up the Committee Print today, as amended last week by the Subcommittee on Telecommunications. The changes made to H.R. 850 were important steps to help close the remaining gap between what is achievable from a national security standpoint, and what is in the best interest of our digital economy. Today, Mr. Chairman, we have the opportunity to close that gap further, and I hope you will join me in supporting some modest measures to do so. As was generally agreed at last week's markup, we must close the gap further and provide a funding mechanism for this center.