Congress Hears Status of Year 2000 Solutions

[Guest guest]

COM: Hare Krsna dasi (Brunswick, Maine - USA) wrote:

 

> [Text 2133997 from COM]

>

> The New York Times

>

> March 3, 1999, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

>

> SECTION: Section A; Page 13; Column 2; National Desk

>

> HEADLINE: Congress Hears Status of Year 2000 Solutions

>

> BYLINE: By ERIC SCHMITT

>

> DATELINE: WASHINGTON, March 2

>

> BODY:

> American industry and the government are generally winning the race

> to fix year 2000 computer glitches by year's end, but the problem is

> likely to cause widespread civil unrest and economic disruption abroad,

> a Senate panel reported today.

>

> With 304 days to go, most Federal agencies, utilities and big companies

> are solving computer flaws that could spew faulty data or worse, the

> panel said. But its 160-page report warned that the nation's health care

> industry "lags significantly" in redressing the problem, as do millions

> of small businesses, and scores of state and local governments.

>

> More chilling are the findings abroad. Global communications, financial

> systems, air transportation, and oil supplies could be interrupted for

> days or weeks. Important allies like Japan, Mexico and Germany are nine

> months to two years behind schedule.

>

> In a closed briefing at the Capitol, senators heard that computer

> failures in Russia could blind early-warning radar and lead to false

> alarms of nuclear attacks. Soviet-built nuclear reactors in Russia and

> Eastern Europe could shut down. And there is a chance that terrorists

> will try to exploit the chaos.

>

> "In this country we will have a bump in the road but it will not be

> crippling," said Senator Robert F. Bennett, a Utah Republican who heads

> the Special Committee on the Year 2000 Computer Problem. At midday, he

> briefed his colleagues on national security risks.

>

> "Internationally, we think the chances of difficulty are much higher,"

> Mr. Bennett said.

>

> The Senate, in its quest to resume a regular legislative agenda, took

> the unusual step of devoting its entire day to aspects of the year 2000

> problem.

>

> The Senate voted 99 to 0 this morning, to authorize the Government to

> guarantee loans to small businesses to fix computer problems.

>

> This afternoon, the Senate voted 92 to 6 to extend the panel's work

> through February 2000, and approved its $800,000 budget.

>

> Moreover, the House and Senate are considering bipartisan bills that

> would limit litigation, lawyers' fees and damage awards related to the

> problem. Lloyd's of London has projected that global legal costs could

> reach $1 trillion.

>

> An unlikely coalition of insurers, high-technology companies, and large

> and small businesses support the legislation, which is opposed by

> consumer groups, trial lawyers and the Clinton Administration.

>

> Republican leaders in Congress have put the bills on the fast track,

> making consideration by both houses likely in the coming weeks.

>

> As 2000 approaches, experts around the world are concerned about

> computer crashes that might occur if software, written to recognize the

> year by the last two digits, mistakes 2000 for 1900.

>

> The Senate panel and the Administration use the same analogy to describe

> the problem's domestic impact: a bad snowstorm that disrupts daily life

> for a few days at most.

>

> Senator Gordon H. Smith, an Oregon Republican, said: Prepare but do not

> panic. Set aside some extra canned goods and bottled water, but do not

> stockpile.

>

> Senator Christopher J. Dodd, the Connecticut Democrat who is the

> committee's vice chairman, said, "We have tried to discount what I call

> the Y2K survivalist mentality."

>

> Indeed, the Gartner Group, a research and consulting firm, has estimated

> that only 10 percent of any computer failures in the United States are

> expected to last more than three days. And the panel gave relatively

> high marks to the nation's utilities, telecommunications, financial and

> transportation areas.

>

> But the report, the most comprehensive assessment of the year 2000

> problem, singled out the nation's 6,000 hospitals, 50,000 nursing homes

> and 800,000 doctor offices for criticism. About 80 percent of doctors'

> offices and 50 percent of small- to medium-sized businesses have failed

> to take

> action, the report said.

>

> The problem is more serious abroad, the senators said, because foreign

> governments either do not have the resources, the political will or the

> interest to deal with the problem, which could hamper everything from

> credit-card transactions to utilities.

>

> Many nations are looking to the United States for help. Today, John A.

> Koskinen, President Clinton's year 2000 czar, was in the Philippines to

> discuss ways to avert breakdowns with 30 Asian-Pacific countries.

>

> The Pentagon sent a delegation to Moscow last month to meet with Russian

> technical experts and lay the groundwork for a plan to have Russian

> specialists sit with their American counterparts this New Year's Eve in

> a joint missile-warning center in Colorado.