Some Current Events:
By The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) -- American business and the federal government must
urgently fill ''gaping holes'' in their readiness for the Year 2000 computer
problem, President Clinton said Tuesday.
''Because the difficulty is as far-flung as the billions of microchips that run
everything from farm equipment to VCRs, this is not a challenge that is
susceptible to a single government program or an easy fix,'' Clinton said in a
speech at the National Academy of Sciences that marked his most extensive
public comments on the subject.
Since most computer software programs recognize only the last two digits of a
year, the arrival of the year 2000 will cause many to malfunction unless fixes are
in place. Without a remedy, these computers will think Jan. 1, 2000 is the same
day a full century earlier.
Computer experts warn that when 2000 arrives, many countries could face
widespread power outages, transportation foul-ups and telecommunications
failures because of confused computers.
Some industry officials have complained that the Clinton administration has failed
to speak out more forcefully about the problem.
In his speech, Clinton tempered his call for urgent action on the ''Y2K'' solution
with upbeat assurances that federal agencies are making good progress. He
noted that he had ordered all agencies to have their Y2K remedies ready by next
March. He also said that many big corporations are moving swiftly to prepare
themselves.
''But let me say, in spite of all this progress in the business sector, just as in the
government sector, there are still gaping holes,'' Clinton said. ''Far too many
businesses, especially small- and medium-sized firms, will not be ready unless
they begin to act.''
Harris Miller, president of the Information Technology Association of America,
which represents computer software and other information companies, said
Clinton's speech was on target in pointing out both the progress and problems
here and abroad.
''I would have preferred that he had given this speech a year and a half ago,''
Miller said.
Clinton said he would propose ''Good Samaritan'' legislation to protect from
legal liability those who provide a clearinghouse function by sharing Year
2000-related information. The proposed legislation would not, however, protect
them from liability arising from actual Y2K failures in their computer systems.
Clinton also said the United States will contribute $12 million to support World
Bank efforts to increase awareness of the ''millennium bug'' in developing
countries.
Clinton said he raised the Y2K problem at recent international meetings,
including the G-8 summit of industrialized nations in Birmingham, England, and
discovered that even some of these technologically advanced nations are not
adequately prepared.
''With millions of hours needed to rewrite billions of lines of code in hundreds of
thousands of interdependent organizations, this is clearly one of the most complex
management challenges in history,'' he said.
John Koskinen, chairman of the Year 2000 Conversion Council that is
overseeing the government's work on the problem, later told reporters that some
of the biggest federal agencies are behind schedule in fixing the bug.
These include the Departments of Defense, Health and Human Services, Energy,
Education and Transportation as well as the U.S. Agency for International
Development, he said.
Best prepared are the Social Security Administration, the Federal Emergency
Management Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency and NASA.
Koskinen said most of the ''mission critical'' federal computer systems should be
ready by Clinton's target date of March 31, 1999.
Clinton said the Y2K effort has met with ''extraordinary bipartisan interest and
support.'' He took a verbal slap, however, from Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio,
who said the president's speech ''suffered from a credibility glitch'' because of
the fact that most of the federal agencies tracked in an Office of Management
and Budget report were making inadequate progress. |
