Expert Says Feds Lag on Y2K Bug
By Jim Abrams
Associated Press Writer
Monday, February 22, 1999; 2:00 p.m. EST
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal agencies are belatedly responding to
the Year 2000 computer problem, and some of the biggest departments,
including Defense and State, are still lagging behind, a House expert said
Monday.
Agencies, ''are finally getting around in the last year to really putting some
effort into this,'' Rep. Stephen Horn, R-Calif., said in releasing his seventh
quarterly ''report card'' on the status of efforts to what is known as the
''Y2K'' problem.
Horn, who heads the House subcommittee on government management,
information and technology, gave the 24 agencies he has followed an
overall grade of ''C+.'' That's up from the ''D'' grade handed down in his
survey last November.
''At least we know there is recognition that 'Y2K' is not a new cereal,''
said Rep. Constance Morella, R-Md., who has worked to draw attention
to the problem.
President Clinton has given most federal agencies until March 31 to
upgrade their computers so there will not be breakdowns in basic public
services on Jan. 1, 2000. Most older computers use only two digits to
mark keep track of what year it is, and could confuse 2000 with the year
1900 at the turn of the century, causing malfunctions and shutdowns.
John Koskinen, head of the president's Year 2000 Council, said he was
pleased by Horn's latest assessment. Horn, Koskinen said, ''has
complained I was overoptimistic, but when the dust gets settled we'll find
that I was more right than he was, and I'm delighted with that.''
Koskinen and Horn agreed that about 90 percent of federal computer
systems will be ready by the March 31 deadline and Koskinen said critical
transportation, defense and benefits programs will be fixed well in advance
of the yearend. ''I think the public should be satisfied that the risk is not
coming from federal systems.''
Horn gave 11 agencies, including the Social Security Administration and
the Veterans Affairs Department, either an ''A'' or ''A-'' for installing
software that is Y2K-compliant. He praised the Energy and Justice
departments for making major strides since the last report.
But he said three departments -- Health and Human Services, Agriculture
and Defense -- were still in the ''C'' category and three others -- State,
Transportation and the Agency of International Development -- got failing
grades. Led by Defense, those six account for more than 50 percent of
the mission-critical computer systems in the federal government.
Pentagon spokeswoman Susan Hansen said they've repaired more than
80 percent of their systems and expect to be fully ready at the end of the
year. ''If we don't have a system fixed we will have fully fleshed-out
contingency plans. We will be able to carry out our national security
responsibilities.''
The Health Care Financing Administration, the office of the Health and
Human Services Department responsible for Medicare and Medicaid
payments, also put out a statement that while follow-up work is still
needed, it expects to meet the goal of having all its systems meet the
March 31 deadline.
Federal Aviation Administration officials have also pledged there will be
no disruption of air services or safety problems next Jan. 1.
Morella praised the FAA for ''working around the clock'' to address the
computer problem, and said that while some flights might be canceled on
New Year's Day, ''it will not be unsafe to fly.''
Congress last fall approved more than $3 billion in emergency funding to
help agencies make the needed computer changes. In the coming weeks
lawmakers will also be considering legislation to limit the liabilities of
private businesses that could face lawsuits for problems resulting from
computer breakdowns.
© Copyright 1999 The Associated Press
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