I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1962
To prohibit the export of high-performance computers to certain countries
until certain applicable provisions of the National Defense Authorization
Act for Fiscal Year 1998 are fulfilled.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 26, 1999
Mr. HUNTER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on International Relations, and in addition to the Committee on
Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speak-
er, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the ju-
risdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To prohibit the export of high-performance computers to
certain countries until certain applicable provisions of
the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year
1998 are fulfilled.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Supercomputer Post-
shipment Verification Act of 1999’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress makes the following findings:
(4) The Committee on Armed Services of the
House of Representatives received the first of these
reports on January 7, 1999. The report identified
390 high-performance computers as having been ex-
ported to Computer Tier 3 countries during the pe-
riod beginning on November 18, 1997, and ending
on November 17, 1998.
(5) The report also identified 286 supercom-
puter 
exports 
covered 
by 
the 
post-shipment
verification requirement for which a post-shipment
verification was not conducted.
(6) The report stated that 190 of the instances
where a post-shipment verification was not con-
ducted involved exports to the People’s Republic of
China. The Secretary of Commerce reported that the
People’s Republic of China did not allow post-ship-
ment verifications to be conducted.
(7) Because post-shipment verifications were
not conducted in a number of instances, the United
States Government does not know if the computers
in question are being used for benign commercial
purposes, or for purposes that benefit military or
proliferation promoting projects.
SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO THE NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHOR-
IZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 1998.
(a) ANNUAL REPORT.—Section 1213 of the National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1998 (Public
Law 105–85; 111 Stat. 1934) is amended by striking sub-
section (c) and inserting the following:
‘‘(c) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Secretary of Commerce
shall submit, on January 1 of each year, a report to the
congressional committees specified in section 1215 on the
results of post-shipment verifications conducted under this
section covering exports carried out during the preceding
fiscal year. Each such report shall include a list of all the
items subject to the post-shipment verifications that were
so exported and, with respect to each such export, the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(1) The destination country.
‘‘(2) The date of export.
‘‘(3) The intended end use and intended end
user.
‘‘(4) 
The 
results 
of 
the 
post-shipment
verification.’’.
(b) MORATORIUM ON EXPORTS.—Section 1213 of the
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1998
(Public Law 105–85; 111 Stat. 1934) is further amended
by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(e) MORATORIUM
ON
EXPORT
OF
SUPERCOM-
PUTERS UNTIL POST–SHIPMENT VERIFICATIONS HAVE
BEEN CONDUCTED.—
‘‘(1) FOR
EXPORTS
PRIOR
TO
OCTOBER 1,
1998.—Until all post shipment verifications required
by subsection (a) have been conducted for exports
carried out during the period beginning on Novem-
ber 18, 1997, and ending on September 30, 1998,
no digital computers with a composite theoretical
performance of more than 2,000 MTOPS may be ex-
ported or reexported to a country specified in sub-
section (f).
‘‘(2) FOR
SUBSEQUENT
EXPORTS.—Until all
post shipment verifications required by subsection
(a) have been conducted for exports carried out dur-
ing the period addressed in each report required by
subsection (c), no digital computers with a composite
theoretical performance of more than 2,000 MTOPS
may be exported or reexported to a country specified
in subsection (f).
‘‘(f) COUNTRIES COVERED BY MORATORIUM.—For
the purposes of subsection (e), a country specified in this
subsection is a country that has been the recipient of the
export of any computer described in subsection (a) for
which the post-shipment verification required by sub-
section (a) has not been conducted.’’.
SEC. 4. REPORTS.
(a) REPORT
ON
DELINQUENT
POST-SHIPMENT
VERIFICATIONS.—When all post-shipment verifications
are conducted with respect to a country to fulfill the re-
quirements of section 1213(e) of the National Defense Au-
thorization Act for Fiscal Year 1998, as added by section
3 of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce shall submit to
the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate and the
Committee on Armed Services of the House of Represent-
atives a report on the results of those post-shipment
verifications. The report shall include a list identifying all
the items subject to the post-shipment verifications that
were exported from the United States to that country dur-
ing the applicable time period specified in paragraph (1)
or (2) of such section 1213(e) and, with respect to each
such export, the following:
(1) The date of export.
(2) The intended end use and intended end
user.
(3) 
The 
results 
of 
the 
post-shipment
verification.
(b) REPORT ON IMPACT OF SUPERCOMPUTER EX-
PORTS ON NATIONAL SECURITY.—The Secretary of De-
fense shall submit to the Committee on Armed Services
of the Senate and the Committee on Armed Services of
the House of Representatives a report on the impact on
national security of the export of digital computers with
a composite theoretical performance of more than 2,000
MTOPS to countries listed as ‘‘Computer Tier 3’’ eligible
countries in section 740.7 of title 15 of the Code of Fed-
eral Regulations, as in effect on June 10, 1997. This re-
port shall be submitted not later than 120 days after the
date of the enactment of this Act. The report shall be sub-
mitted in both classified and unclassified form.
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