WASHINGTON- Senate Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Fred Thompson (R-TN) announced that the full committee will hold a hearing Thursday, March 15, 2001 on U.S. export controls of high performance computers (HPC).

The committee will hear testimony from the General Accounting Office on former President Clinton's January, 2001 decision to further ease U.S. export controls for high performance computers (HPC). This decision tripled the licensing threshold for computer exports to so-called tier 3 countries, such as Russia, China, Vietnam, and Pakistan. The committee will examine this and other changes enacted in recent years with regard to HPC export controls that have consequences for U.S. national security and nonproliferation efforts. The GAO will present its assessment of the former president's decisions and justifications for change, and assess their national security, economic, and other implications.