Sen. Phil Gramm, chairman of the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, has announced that the committee's planned vote on S.149, the Export Administration Act of 2001, has been postponed to a date that will be announced later.

"By continuing discussions with the Bush Administration, I am confident that we can in short order reach a consensus and receive the president's full endorsement of our efforts to bring U.S. export controls in line with the realities of the 21st century," Gramm said.

The bill, introduced January 23, would provide the legal framework for the executive branch to implement export controls on non-military items for both national security and foreign policy reasons. The current export control authority expires on August 20.

Hearings were held on the Export Administration Act on February 7 and February 14; statements from witnesses and senators can be found under Hearings on the Banking Committee's web site at http://banking.senate.gov. A summary of S.149 can be found under Documents on the web site.