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U.S. get failing grade for millennium bug fixes
By Joanne Morrison
WASHINGTON, June 2 (Reuters) - The U.S. government got a failing grade on Tuesday from a key member of Congress for its work to avoid potential ''millennium bug'' problems and prepare critical computers for the year 2000 and beyond.
''Overall, the federal government earned an 'F'. Underlying this dismal grade is a disturbing slowdown in the government's rate of progress,'' said Representative Stephen Horn, the Republican Congressman from California who has been monitoring the problem.
Horn, Chairman of the House government technology subcommittee, cited the slowdown in the government's progress, despite U.S. President Bill Clinton's earlier appointment of John Koskinen to head a special task force on the matter.
Horn said it was now time for Clinton to designate the Year 2000 problem as a national priority. ''He's got to make a fireside chat on it,'' he said. ''The president must use the bully pulpit and inform the people of this nation.''
Thousands of older government computers recognise the year in dates using only two digits. When the year 2000 arrives they may either shut down or interpret the date as 1900 and give faulty results, a problem widely know as the millennium bug.
Clinton's appointment of Koskinen offered a ray of hope earlier, but Horn said Koskinen must get tough on agencies that were behind schedules.
''We've only got six quarters to go,'' Horn said. ''I want him to bang heads when someone's lagging.''
Horn cited failures at specific agencies, including the Department of Defence and the Department of Transportation.
The Defence Department - with 600,000 to 900,000 potential problem computer chips in computers and weapons systems -- at its current rate of progress would not be prepared until two years after the date change, Horn said.
The Federal Aviation Administration, which provides crucial services to the flying public, has also failed to make adequate progress. ''Without dramatic improvements, the nation's air traffic could face serious disruptions for an extended period after Dec. 31, 1999,'' Horn said.
While the Social Security Administration has done outstanding work in preparing its computers, Horn said that progress may be ''all for naught'' if the Treasury Department's Financial Management Service, the agency which issues social security checks, makes no improvements.
The Clinton Administration is expected soon to release its own report on the government's progress. But Horn said anything other than a failing grade in that study would be ''propaganda.''
12:08 06-02-98 |
