'Statement by NORMAN E. LORENTZ SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE
before the
SUBCOMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT MANAGEMENT,
INFORMATION, AND TEHCNOLOGY
of the
COMMITTEE ON
GOVERNMENT REFORM AND OVERSIGHT
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 23, 1999
Good morning, Chairman McHugh, Chairman Horn, Chairperson Morella, and subcommittee members.
On behalf of the United States Postal Service, I welcome the opportunity to speak with you today about the Postal Service's efforts to address the Year 2000 computer problem. With me today are Nicholas Barranca, Vice President of Operations Planning and Richard Weirich, Vice President of Information Systems.
It is gratifying, not only to myself, but to Postal Service employees in thousands of communities across the nation, to be reminded of the trust and confidence the American people place in their mail system.
While years of predictions suggest that there is no place for a paper-based communications system in a digital world, the fact that we are sitting here today demonstrates that this is not the case.
As Postmaster General William Henderson said in this very room less than two weeks ago, "the health of the Postal Service is important to the American people . . . (it) is a measure of how much American companies and consumers depend on reliable, reasonably priced postal services to communicate and conduct business."
We have taken this obligation seriously for the last two centuries, and we take it just as seriously as we move into the next. The coming of the year 2000 presents a host of challenges—both unanticipated and never before experienced—by either the Postal Service or any other business or government agency.
The Postmaster General and senior Postal Service management are giving this subject significant attention, with weekly meetings of the Management Committee serving as a forum for reports and discussion about the status of our Year 2000 program. This is one of the most important public policy issues we are facing this year.
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