The current (March '98) IFIP newsletter contains a proposed policy on cryptography by TC11. The policy statement is prefaced by a statement of the importance of cryptographic mechanisms in the Global Information Infrastructure and an acknowledgement of the varied and sometimes conflicting needs at play in determining crypto policy. The whole issue of the newsletter is available at: http://www.ifip.or.at/newsletters/nl1q98.htm
There was also a US Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing on encryption discussing primarily domestic controls on March 17. Testimony of two who spoke can be found at http://www.cdt.org/crypto Also there can be found testimony by FBI director Louis Freeh before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on January 28 concerning cryptographic based threats to US national security.
US congressional representatives Eshoo (D-California) and Tauzin (R-Lousiana) have introduced the bill HR2991. Among other things, this bill reguires federal agencies to make available to the public forms that can be submitted electronically and digitally signed.
The NSA has prepared a report presenting potential threats to cryptographic systems when key-recovery has been employed. The report simply details a number of potential attacks. But, it is sure to affect the debate between encryption rights advocates and proponents of key recovery, such as the FBI. A version of the report, explicitly labelled ``not an official NSA document'' is available from Federal Computer Week. The report and related stories can be found under the URL http://www.idg.net/idg_frames/english/content.cgi?vc=story_8953.html
Also, see the references below to postings of a recent crypto policy survey, and the reference above to the IEEE CS survey currently being conducted.