[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 133 (Tuesday, September 29, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11131-S11132]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         THE YEAR 2000 INFORMATION AND READINESS DISCLOSURE ACT

 Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I was delighted to see that the 
Senate passed S. 2392 (``The Year 2000 Information and Readiness 
Disclosure Act'') yesterday. I introduced this legislation with 
Senators Robert F. Bennett (R-UT) and Christopher J. Dodd (D-CT) on 
July 30, 1998. This ``Good Samaritan'' legislation is intended to 
promote the open sharing of information about Y2K solutions by 
protecting those who share information in good faith from liability 
claims based on the dissemination of that information. I want to make 
it clear that this legislation does not address liability that may 
arise separately from actual Y2K failures of systems or devices. The 
head of the President's Council on Y2K, John Koskinen, said that 
passing this bill is one of the most important things that we could do 
on the Y2K front. I agree.
  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

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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.''
  January 1, 1999 is quickly approaching. I believe the ``Good 
Samaritan'' legislation that my colleagues passed last night will play 
a significant role in helping private firms and the government in 
addressing the computer problem. I am hopeful that we will have this 
problem in check come the year 2000, but, as the Duke said of Waterloo, 
it will be ``close run thing.''

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