[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 94 (Wednesday, July 15, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8263-S8264]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              Y2K PROBLEM

 Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, President Clinton yesterday 
called for urgent action regarding the Year 2000 (Y2K) problem in a 
speech at the National Academy of Sciences. The President stated ``This 
is clearly one of the most complex management challenges in history.'' 
He cited progress in American business and the Federal Government in 
preparing for the Y2K problem, while simultaneously noting ``far too 
many businesses, especially small-and medium-sized firms, will not be 
ready unless they begin to act.''
  I am pleased to see that President Clinton is speaking openly about 
the seriousness of the Y2K computer problem. Over two years ago I 
stated ``that the Year 2000 problem is indeed serious, and that fixing 
it will be costly and time-consuming. The problem deserves the careful 
and coordinated attention of the Federal Government, as well as the 
private sector, in order to avert major disruptions on January 1, 
2000.'' On July 31, 1996 I sent President Clinton a letter expressing 
my views and concerns about Y2K. I warned him of the ``extreme negative 
economic consequences of the Y2K Time Bomb,'' and suggested that ``a 
presidential aide be appointed to take responsibility for assuring that 
all Federal Agencies, including the military, be Y2K compliant by 
January 1, 1999 [leaving a year for `testing'] and that all commercial 
and industrial firms doing business with the federal government must 
also be compliant by that date.''
  I trust the President's acknowledgment of the Y2K issue as a grave 
and pervasive problem will prompt the agencies and private sector to 
act quickly. Yet having spent two years studying the problem and 
warning of the lagging progress of federal agencies in addressing it, I 
must state that combating the millennium bug at this late date ``looks 
to be the 13th labor of Hercules.'' I can only hope that both American 
businesses and the Federal Government follow the President's

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warnings and begin to give this problem the attention it 
deserves.

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