Washington, DC – Senate Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Fred Thompson (R-TN) and Ranking Member Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) announced today that there will be a full Committee hearing on the Wassenaar Arrangement and the Future of Multilateral Export Controls.

THE HONORABLE JOHN D. HOLUM, Senior Advisor for Arms Control and International Security, U.S. Department of State

THE HONORABLE WILLIAM A. REINSCH, Under Secretary for Export Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce

MR. FRANK J. GAFFNEY, JR., Director, Center for Security Policy

THE HONORABLE STEPHEN J. HADLEY, Former Assistant Secretary for International Security Policy, U.S. Department of Defense

MR. HENRY D. SOKOLSKI, Executive Director, Nonproliferation Policy Education Center

The Wassenaar Arrangement (WA) is a multilateral export control regime for conventional arms and sensitive dual-use goods and technologies. Begun in September 1996, the WA was designed to promote security and stability by stemming the proliferation of controlled items to rogue states and countries of concern.

The Participating States of the Wassenaar Arrangement are: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom and United States.

Chairman Thompson will be traveling to Europe during the week of April 20, 2000 to visit the Wassenaar Arrangement’s headquarters in Vienna, meet with its current and past directors, and observe its operations. Senator Thompson will also visit Paris, London, and Berlin to meet with senior government officials regarding the Wassenaar Arrangement and the future of multilateral export controls.