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To: Andrew Vance who wrote (14297)	6/4/1998 9:35:00 PM
From: Andrew Vance	Respond to of 17305

AV--This was the local newspaper story on the YR2000 "sky is falling" phenomena. Y2K problem unfixed may sink, Economy Gannett News Service WASHINGTON --Unless the business community gets on a stick to outfit its computer systems to accommodate the year 2000, thousands of companies will capsize, causing the national economy to sink, business executives told a Senate hearing Tuesday. Witness after witness told the Small Business Committee that many business owners have underestimated the danger posed by the advent of 2000---a date many computers are not built to process. Harris N. Miller, president of the Virginia-based Information Technology Association of America, said. small and midsized businesses particularly tend to brush the threat aside. "If you are not vigilant, if you do not identify your risks and take steps to avoid them, the year 2000 may take your business away --permanently," Miller said. He urged Congress to seize the initiative and set an example for private industry. He criticized the Clinton administration for moving too slowly on the problem, noting that the president only recently stepped up what has been a flagging effort to safeguard the government's electronic systems. "When government mobilizes, small businesses will begin to focus," Miller said. Other witnesses raised similar specters of panicked businesses. They pitched similar appeals for government intervention, including low-interest loans for repairs and tax breaks for small companies that complete the repairs by July 1, 1999---six months, before the dreaded crash. Every record for all of the thousands of clients we represent would be in jeopardy without completely replacing the old agency management system," said David L. Schaefer, partner in a Leesberg, Va., independent insurance firm. His company will spend more than $270,000 to install a new information and telephone system, Schaefer told the committee. That does not include the cost to upgrade computers for employees, he said. "I am gravely concerned that we know-there is going to be a train wreck, we know when it will be and we know people will be hurt and nothing will be done to prevent much of it," Schaefer said. "The bottom line is we need much-more forceful action by our government to alert and, where appropriate, protect the citizenship...before it is too late." Committee Chairman Christopher. "Kit" Bond, R-Mo., said the Small Business Administration is already trying to alert companies to the so-called "Y2K danger. SBA has a Web site on the Internet and an awareness campaign aimed at small business. "But is that enough?" Bond asked, suggesting he agreed with witnesses that the government must set the pace for problem solving. "Time is running out," Bond said. "We need to begin a series of programs to help small businesses very soon if we intend to avoid a calamity in the year 2000. He said many of the nation's 10 million small businesses have begun repairs. But others don't know what to do. If they fail, Bond said, the entire national economy is at risk. "We have found there's a significant likelihood that the Y2K issue..may cause many small businesses to close, playing a large role in Federal Reserve Chairman (Alan) Greenspan's prediction of a 40 percent chance for recession at the beginning of the new millennium," Bond said. Andrew