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Technology Stocks : Discuss Year 2000 Issues -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Scrumpy who wrote (7544)	8/1/1999 3:06:00 AM
From: Ken	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 9818

THIS IS VERY SERIOUS! << EMP THREAT COULD DWARF Y2K PROBLEM House Small Business Committee June 1, 1999 congressional hearing Committee Chairman Roscoe Bartlett's opening statement Good morning. Let me call the Subcommittee to order. It is a pleasure to welcome you to this hearing of the Subcommittee on Government Programs and Oversight of the House Small Business Committee. I would especially like to thank those of you that have traveled some distance to participate in this hearing. This hearing is being held because the damage to our economy - businesses large and small - not to mention national security from Electro-Magnetic pulse (EMP) could dwarf anything associated with the well known Y2K problem. Yet, the EMP threat is virtually ignored by our government and is practically unknown to the public. Concerns about the proliferation of nuclear weapons and the possession of such weapons by rogue nations, make the discussion of problems associated with EMP and the magnitude of those problems a most timely topic. However, few Congressional hearings have been devoted to this topic, and there is little, if any, public awareness of EMP. When I was recently in Vienna, Austria, a member of the Russian Duma candidly told me, "you know if we really wanted to hurt you, we would set off an atomic weapon at high altitude above your country and produce an EMP that would destroy your entire electrical power grid, computer, and telecommunications infrastructure." This statement did not surprise me, but unfortunately it would come as a surprise to most Americans. I believe it is imperative that our government take steps to defend against EMP. As with Y2K, the public and businesses need to be informed about what steps they could take to prevent or minimize damage from EMP. It would appear that the number of contracts awarded to small businesses by the federal government for EMP research has diminished in the last five years. Is the federal government placing the correct priority on the problems associated with EMP and with the possibility or probability that they may occur? Is the public being correctly informed by the federal government as to what EMP is, the magnitude of the threat and the problems associated with it? It is hoped that the testimony today will answer some, if not all of these questions. Also, it is hoped that the hearing and the permanent record available to the public after the hearing, both in hard copy and in an abridged form on the internet, will provide heightened awareness of what EMP is and the problems it could create. Again thank you all for participating in this hearing. And thank you in the audience for attending this hearing. ----------------------------------------------------------------------emp