.c The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) A plan to relax restrictions on the export of U.S.
technology that scrambles computer messages into unbreakable codes would
threaten national security, an official of the National Security Agency told
lawmakers Wednesday.

A bill sponsored by Rep. Bob Goodlatte, RVa., would leave law enforcement
agencies without a way to eavesdrop on lawbreakers who use encryption
technology to commit crime, said William P. Crowell, deputy director of the
supersecret Defense Department agency.

``The Goodlatte bill would undermine international efforts to catch
terrorists, spies and drug traffickers,'' Crowell said. ``Quite simply, such
efforts save American lives and protect our free society.''

The bill has been approved by the House Judiciary and International Relations
committees. It also has drawn support from 253 cosponsors more than enough
to pass the 435member House.

Supporters say it's nonsensical to keep all current restrictions on U.S.
companies in place while foreign companies sell their products without
restriction.

America's computer dominance will be protected, Goodlatte said, and the bill
would deter crime by making business transactions, computer records and other
communications more secure.

``One thing we can do to promote national security is to promote the
availability of strong encryption to lawabiding people and organizations,''
Goodlatte said, adding that law enforcement agencies would be no worse off
than they are today.

``Encryption is going to become available to criminals whether or not this
legislation passes into law,'' Goodlatte said.

The Goodlatte bill got a chilly reception from lawmakers who sit on the
National Security Committee, however.

``I do not think this bill moves us in the right direction,'' said Rep. Floyd
Spence, RS.C., the committee's chairman. ``I'm not totally happy with the
way we're regulating this industry,'' he said. ``But I cannot imagine what
the consequences would be if we totally remove the restrictions on encryption
technology.''

The Business Software Alliance, representing software companies, has lobbied
passionately for the bill, saying it would allow U.S. encryption producers to
compete with foreign businesses.

Encryption technology is sold now without restriction inside the United
States.

In an effort to keep pace with technology advancing at a rapid pace, the
Clinton administration relaxed export controls last year. The computer
industry complained that change did not go far enough.

Administration officials have asked Congress to reject the bill and instead
set up a system that would give developers of encryption technology
incentives to make ``keys'' devices that can unscramble their codes
available to law enforcement during criminal investigations.

As with wiretaps, authorities would have to obtain court orders to use the
keys, FBI Director Louis Freeh has said.

Spence said he would make it his personal mission to better educate fellow
lawmakers on the issue. He said he thinks many of the bill's cosponsors don't
fully understand it.

``I think lots of my colleagues have been sold a bill of goods,'' Spence
said.

The bill is H.R. 695.

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