[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 72 (Tuesday, May 18, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5443-S5444]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           ORDER OF BUSINESS

  Mr. LOTT. So that Senators will know how we would like to proceed for 
the next hour or so, we want to have a special order in honor of and 
tribute to one of the finest staff members I have ever known in the 26 
years I have been in Congress, Adm. Bud Nance.


                         Privilege Of The Floor

  Mr. LOTT. I ask unanimous consent that during the tributes to Admiral 
Nance all staff of the Foreign Relations Committee be granted floor 
privileges.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. LOTT. It is anticipated that following those tributes, some time 
might be spent hearing further from Senators expressing their concern 
at and disappointment about the vote against cloture on the motion to 
proceed to the Y2K issue. Then we will work with the Democratic 
leadership and the managers of the juvenile justice bill to see how we 
can proceed on that bill after the policy luncheon hour or two hours. 
Hopefully, we could have some wrap-up debate on amendments that were 
offered Friday and Monday, because some of those amendments were 
offered and some debate was heard but the other side was not heard on 
that particular amendment, and it could have been from either side of 
the aisle. So some additional time might be needed for that, and I was 
thinking of maybe a series of stacked votes.
  We have some 13 amendments that are pending. Hopefully, we would not 
have to have a recorded vote on all of those, but whatever number would 
be required, and then see if we can work for a way to complete the 
juvenile justice bill in a reasonable period of time with a reasonable 
number of amendments on both sides, and then go tomorrow, hopefully, 
not later than noon, to the supplemental appropriations bill, assuming 
the House passes that this afternoon or tonight.
  I think it would be irresponsible for us to delay any longer than is 
absolutely necessary to take up this legislation. It has been pending 
too long. It is supposed to be an emergency, supposed to deal with 
disasters in Central America, in Kansas and Oklahoma, as well as the 
defense needs in support of our men and women who are flying bombing 
raids right now over Kosovo. It would be my intent, as soon as we 
receive it from the House, to go to that legislation. It is still my 
hope that we can complete juvenile justice in a reasonable period of 
time.
  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I am extremely disappointed in the failure 
of the Senate to invoke cloture. I believe that there exists strong 
bipartisan support for the bill and it is a shame that the bill may die 
for partisan reasons. But the Democrats held firm on cloture. Sometimes 
party unity is a good thing, but in this case, it is a mistake.
  The reason why it is a mistake is that the Y2K problem hurts America. 
What we face is the threat that an avalanche of Y2K-related lawsuits 
will be simultaneously filed on or about January 3, 2000 and that this 
unprecedented wave of litigation will overwhelm the computer industry's 
ability to correct the problem. Make no mistake about it, this super-
litigation threat is real, and if it substantially interferes with the 
computer industry's ongoing Y2K repair efforts, the consequences for 
America could be disastrous.
  Today we face the more immediate problem of frivolous litigation that 
seeks recovery even where there is little or no actual harm done. In 
that regard, I am aware of at least 25 Y2K-related class actions that 
are currently pending in courts across the country, with the threat of 
hundreds more to come.
  It is precisely these types of Y2K-related lawsuits that pose the 
greatest danger to industry's efforts to fix the problem. All of us are 
aware that the computer industry is feverishly working to correct--or 
remediate, in industry language--Y2K so as to minimize any disruptions 
that occur early next year.
  What we also know is that every dollar that industry has to spend to 
defend against especially frivolous lawsuits is a dollar that will not 
get spent on fixing the problem and delivering solutions to technology 
consumers. Also, how industry spends its precious time and money 
between now and the end of the year--either litigating or mitigating--
will largely determine how severe Y2K-related damage, disruption, and 
hardship will be.
  Let me talk about the potential financial magnitude of the Y2K 
litigation problem. The Gartner Group estimates that worldwide 
remediation costs will range between $300 billion to $600 billion. 
Other experts contend that overall litigation costs may total $1 
trillion. Even if we accept the lower amount, according to Y2K legal 
expert Jeff Jinnett, ``this cost would greatly exceed the combined 
estimated legal costs associated with Superfund environmental 
litigation . . . U.S. tort litigation . . . and asbestos litigation.'' 
Perhaps the best illustration of the sheer dimension of the litigation 
monster that Y2K may create is Mr. Jinnett's suggestion that a $1 
trillion estimate for Y2K-related litigation costs ``would exceed even 
the estimated total annual direct and indirect costs of all civil 
litigation in the United States,'' which he says is $300 billion per 
year.
  These figures should give all of us pause. At this level of cost, 
Y2K-related litigation may well overwhelm the capacity of the already 
crowded court system to deal with it.
  Thus, it is imperative that Congress should give companies an 
incentive to fix Y2K problems right away, knowing that if they do not 
make a good-faith effort to do so, they will shortly face costly 
litigation. The natural economic incentive of industry is to satisfy 
their customers and, thus, prosper in the competitive environment of 
the free market. This acts as a strong motivation for industry to fix a 
Y2K problem before any dispute becomes a legal one. This will be true, 
however, only as long as businesses are given an opportunity to do so 
and are not forced, at the outset, to divert precious resources from 
the urgent tasks of the repair shop to the often unnecessary 
distractions of the court room. A business and legal environment which 
encourages problem-solving while preserving the eventual opportunity to 
litigate may best insure that consumers and other innocent users of Y2K 
defective products are protected.
  The Y2K problem presents a special case. Because of the great 
dependence of our economy, indeed of our whole society, on 
computerization, Y2K will impact almost every American in some way. But 
the problem and its associated harms will occur only once, all at 
approximately the same time, and will affect virtually every aspect of 
the economy, society, and government. What we must avoid is creating a 
litigious environment so severe that the computer industry's 
remediation efforts will slacken and retreat at the very moment when 
users and consumers need them to advance with all deliberate speed. 
What we must avoid is the crippling the high tech sector of our 
economy.
  As chairman of the Federal Reserve Board Alan Greenspan recently 
noted, the tremendous growth of our economy is in large measure a 
result of productivity gains resulting from the computerization of our 
economy. America is unquestionably the high tech leader in the world 
today. Our technology is a major export item. Unless the Y2K bill is 
passed, the American high tech information industries and computer 
businesses will be swamped by an avalanche of lawsuits.
  Mr. President, why kill the goose that lays the golden egg? Let the 
Senate vote on the underlying bill. Let the Senate vote on Democrat and 
Republican amendments. But let us vote on the merits of the bill. Leave 
politics aside. This issue is too important to be held hostage.
  The excuse that the minority proffered is that the Y2K should not be 
brought up until the Juvenile Justice bill is completed. How ironic. I 
have been working around the clock to work on a time agreements for 
amendments to the Juvenile Justice bill. The minority has been delaying 
the Juvenile Justice bill and uses the delay as an excuse to vote no on 
cloture petition on a motion to proceed to the Y2K bill. That's called 
chutzpa.

[[Page S5444]]

  Look, a strong bipartisan substitute--a Dodd-McCain-Hatch-Feinstein-
Gorton-Wyden-Bennett substitute--has been crafted. This substitute is 
carefully drafted to assure an appropriate balance between the rights 
of citizens to bring suits for compensation and the need to protect the 
high tech community from onerous and wasteful litigation. This is a 
fair resolution of differences between Democrats and Republicans. I 
hope--for the sake of our Nation--that the minority allows us to debate 
this provision.

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