[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 105 (Thursday, July 30, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S9442]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. ASHCROFT (for himself and Mr. Faircloth):
  S. 2384. A bill entitled ``Year 2000 Enhance Cooperation Solution''; 
to the Committee on the Judiciary.


                     YEAR 2000 SOLUTION LEGISLATION

  Mr. ASHCROFT. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce a bill that 
addresses a critical problem that demands immediate attention from the 
Congress.
  For many years now I have been involved with a variety of issues that 
affect the technology sector. As I have said before, no other sector of 
the economy is as vibrant and forward looking. The ingenuity, drive and 
vision of this industry should be a model for all of us, including 
those of us in the Senate. Moreover, the importance of this industry 
should only grow in the coming years. However, as I look to the future 
with the hope of seeing the next century stamped ``Made in America'' I 
see one large impediment--the Year 2000 bug.
  The 105th Congress must consider this problem and assist the country 
in trying to avoid a potentially disastrous crisis. We cannot wait for 
disaster to strike. We must act now to enable companies to avert the 
crisis. No individual will be left untouched if the country fails to 
address this problem and experiences widespread ramifications. No 
company will escape huge costs if they cannot successfully fix their 
own problems and have some assurances that their business partners and 
suppliers have fixed their problems. A great deal of effort has been 
undertaken to bring attention to this problem, including several 
efforts here in the U.S. Senate. However, it is now time to move beyond 
simply highlighting the problem. We need to roll up our sleeves and get 
to work on a solution.
  I begin today to lay out my plan for assisting individuals and 
businesses to walk safely through the minefield called the Y2K problem. 
The first part of this overall plan is the Year 2000 Enhanced 
Cooperation Solution. This legislation provides a very narrow exemption 
to the antitrust laws if and when a company is engaged in cooperative 
conduct to alleviate the impact of a year 2000 date failure in hardware 
or software. The exemption has a clear sunset and expressly ensures 
that the law continues to prohibit anti-competitive conduct such as 
boycotts or agreements to allocate markets or fix prices.
  This simple, straightforward proposal is critical to allowing for 
true cooperation in an effort to rectify the problem. No company can 
solve the Y2K problem alone. Even if one company devises a workable 
solution to their own problems they still face potential disaster from 
components provided by outside suppliers. What is more, when companies 
find workable solutions we certainly want to provide them with every 
incentive to disseminate those solutions as widely as possible. 
Cooperation is essential. But without a clear legislative directive, 
potential antitrust liability will stand in the way of cooperation. We 
must provide our industries with the appropriate incentives and tools 
to fix this problem without the threat of antitrust lawsuits based on 
the very cooperation we ought to be encouraging.
  I do want to be very clear on one point--as important as it is that 
this legislation be enacted and enacted soon, it is merely the first 
piece of a difficult puzzle. The Administration has presented the 
Congress with their view of how information sharing on the Y2K problem 
should be furthered. Based on my initial review, that proposal appears 
to be headed in the right direction but falls far short of the target 
destination. Most importantly, the proposed approach which purports to 
promote information sharing does not accomplish its objective as it 
leaves the problem of potential antitrust liability. In other words, it 
does not accomplish the task that it set out to complete.

  I will seek the introduction of the second piece of the solution, the 
Year 2000 Enhanced Information Solution, which while working within the 
guidelines of the Administration's language will add the teeth, make 
clear that good faith disclosure of information will be protected, and 
provide for protection of individual consumers. Together with the 
antitrust legislation I introduce today, this should provide sufficient 
protection to promote the kind of cooperation that will be essential to 
addressing this looming problem.
  The final piece of the package will be the Year 2000 Litigation 
Solution. Real harm from inadequate efforts to address this problem 
must be compensated. However, we cannot allow the prospect of frivolous 
litigation to block efforts to avoid such harm. We also must ensure 
that frivolous litigation over the Y2K problem does not consume the 
lion's share of the next millennium. While it is not possible for 
Congress to guarantee that private individuals and companies will be 
able to solve the Y2K problem, Congress can eliminate legal obstacles 
that stand in the way of private solutions. Information regarding 
existing software and known problems must be shared as completely and 
openly as possible. The current fear of litigation and liability that 
imposes a distinct chilling effect on information sharing must be 
alleviated.
  Resources to address the Y2K problem, particularly time, are finite. 
They must be focused as fully as possible on remediation, rather than 
on unproductive litigation. Moreover, the availability of adequate 
development and programming talent may hinge upon a working environment 
that protects good faith remediation efforts from the threat of 
liability for their work. Congress must prevent a fiasco where only 
lawyers win.
  I look forward to working with those that are interested as this 
process moves forward. I believe that this Congress cannot wait to 
address this problem. This issue is about time, and we have precious 
little left in this Congress and before the Y2K problem is upon us. I 
hope we can work together to free up talented individuals to address 
this serious problem.
                                 ______