U.S. Chamber Accepts Administration's Invitation

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Chamber of Commerce today announced it accepted a Clinton Administration invitation to participate in creating a national plan to protect America's cyberspace from terrorists and hackers.

The Chamber made its statement in response to the release today of the 40-page administration report, "Defending America's Cyberspace: National Plan for Information Systems Protection."

"Cyber-terrorism and computer hacking will be one of the most damaging and costly problems U.S. businesses will face," said Rick Lane, the Chamber's Director of Congressional Affairs for e-commerce issues.

Lane said the Chamber supports the position that while protecting computer networks is of critical importance, the government should not place unnecessary and costly burdens on the private sector, or unduly jeopardize consumer civil liberties.

"While we want to protect our network infrastructure, we don't want to hinder the incredible growth we're now seeing in e-commerce," Lane said.

The Chamber is already in discussions with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the National Security Agency and the Commerce Department about these issues. In addition, Chamber staff has met with congressional leaders, including Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-UT, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and Administration officials.

Lane said the Chamber will meet with Administration officials and Judiciary Committee staff again over the next several weeks.

As part of its program to educate American business on e-commerce, the Chamber this year will host a series of events nationwide that will include discussions on network security issues.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world's largest business federation representing more than three million businesses and organizations of every size, sector and region.

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