    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 53 (Monday, January 4, 1999)]
    [Pages 2532-2535]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Remarks Announcing Social Security System Compliance With Year 2000
    Computer Problem Safeguards

    December 28, 1998

        Good morning. Let me say, one of the things that she might have told
    you is that before she volunteered for the National Council of Senior
    Citizens for 20 years, she was an employee until 1972, when she retired,
    of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Therefore, she worked for the
    Treasury Department. And on New Year's Eve, she will be 90 years old.
    [Applause] So we thank her.

    Situation in Iraq

        Ladies and gentlemen, before I get into my remarks, because this is
    the only opportunity I will have to appear before the press today, I
    think I should say a few words about an incident early this morning over
    the skies of Iraq, where American and British aircrews were enforcing a
    no-fly zone in northern Iraq. They were fired on by Iraq surface-to-air
    missiles. They took evasive action, returned fire on the missile site,
    and returned safely to their base in Turkey.
        We enforce two no-fly zones in Iraq: one in the north, established
    in 1991; another in the south, established in 1992, which now stretches
    from the southern suburbs of Baghdad down to the Kuwaiti border. The no-
    fly zones have been and will remain an important part of our containment
    policy. Because we effectively control the skies over much of Iraq,
    Saddam has been unable to use air power to repress his own people or to
    lash out again at his neighbors. Our pilots have the authority to
    protect themselves if they're threatened or attacked. They took
    appropriate action today in responding to Iraq's actions.
        Once again, I want to tell you I am very proud of the work they do,
    the risks they take, the skill and the professionalism with which they
    do it. They attacked because they were attacked. And they did the
    appropriate thing. We will continue to enforce the no-fly zones.

    Social Security and Year 2000 Computer Problem

        Now, let me say, this is a very happy announcement today. And I want
    to thank Secretary Rubin, who most people associate with saving the
    economy, not saving Social Security, but that's an important part of his
    job, too. I want to thank Kathy Adams, who is one of those people in the
    Government that makes it go and never gets enough credit for it. So I'm
    delighted to see her up here and, through her, all the other people who
    work every day to make America work.
        I've already told you about Pauline Johnson Jones. And I want to
    say, too, I have been very moved by how passionate Ken Apfel has been
    about making sure that this problem got solved, and today we saw that

    [[Page 2533]]

    he has a vested interest in it: He doesn't want his father to cut him
    out of his will--[laughter]--and everybody always needs to be in better
    stead with their in-laws. [Laughter]
        You know, this Y2K problem is a stunning problem--oh, one other
    thing: I want to acknowledge the presence here in the audience of the
    Member of Congress from Guam, Congressman Robert Underwood, his wife,
    and his five children. They're here; we're delighted to see all of them.
    We're delighted that they're here with us in this cold weather, instead
    of on warm and sunny Guam today.
        We just heard that the new millennium is only 368 days away. And we
    want it to be a carefree celebration. The reason we're here today is to
    announce that on New Year's Day 2000, and on every day that follows,
    people like Pauline can rest easy because the millennium bug will not
    delay the payment of Social Security checks by a single day.
        The Social Security system is now 100 percent compliant with our
    standards and safeguards for the year 2000. To make absolutely certain,
    the system has been tested and validated by a panel of independent
    experts. The system works; it is secure. And therefore, older Americans
    can feel more secure.
        I thank all those who are responsible. This is a good day for
    America. Thank you very much.
        The Social Security Administration and the Financial Management
    Service can be proud. The Social Security agency was the very first one
    to start work on the Y2K problem; it's been a leader and a model ever
    since. They couldn't have done it, these two agencies, if they hadn't
    worked as a team. Social Security generates the Social Security
    payments; the Financial Management Service issues those payments. They
    are in this together.
        Indeed, we're all in this together. This involves not just Federal
    agencies, but everyone who depends upon a computer, which is everyone
    directly, or indirectly. Federal and State governments and local
    governments, businesses large and small, the year 2000 problem reveals
    the connections between all of us.
        We also, I want to point out, have been working very hard with other
    countries. Sally Katzen just told me that there was a meeting at the
    United Nations recently where we met with representatives of 120 other
    countries who are all now working together to solve this, because as all
    of you know, a lot of our economy is tied up with economic endeavors
    throughout the world, so even a problem a long way from our shores can
    have ramifications within our borders. And of course, we don't want any
    of our friends and neighbors hurt by this change either.
        People are meeting this challenge, but I think a lot of people can
    still hardly imagine what caused this. I mean, computers, after all, are
    supposed to save us time, right? And I was describing this Y2K problem
    to Hillary, and she got so technophobic that I gave her a little digital
    alarm clock for Christmas, and she gave it back to me after I talked to
    her about it. And she said, ``Why don't you just go get me one that
    winds up, that I can change in my hand?'' [Laughter]
        It happened, you know, because in the older computers the memory put
    on the chip was precious and much more limited than the phenomenal
    capacity of computer chips today, so that, in effect, they were all
    programmed, these older computers, just to change the last two digits on
    the four numbers of any date. And so what would happen is, when you get
    to the year 2000, it would show 1900 instead of 2000, because there is
    no provision for the 19 to go to 20, because of the limitations of
    memory in the older computer chips.
        The problem is, obviously, that a lot of new computers are also
    interconnected with older computers, and a lot of people can't even be
    sure what chips are in what computers and what links are there. That's
    what makes this labor-saving device of the computer present the most
    labor-intensive problem imaginable. Retired people have had to come
    back--people with skills in working with the old computers have had to
    come back to help all kinds of businesses figure out how to unravel this
    problem. It sounds so simple, but it is so mammoth because you have to
    identify what computers and what chips are where and what the
    interconnections are.
        And so it's an enormous, enormous effort, and we really, all of us,
    are so indebted to these people who have been recognized today with
    these two agencies, and to others all across the country who are working
    on

    [[Page 2534]]

    this problem in the public and in the private sectors.
        I say again, the American people don't know who--or didn't before
    today--know who Kathy Adams was. They don't know any of the people who
    are working with her. But when they get the checks for the first Social
    Security payment in the new millennium, it will be because of them. And
    I would just ask the American people today to be very sensitive, because
    there are people like Kathy Adams working in all these agencies, in
    State and local government and all these businesses throughout the
    country, and they need to be encouraged. And those who have not yet
    undertaken this task need to get on it and get on it now, because we
    just have a little more than a year to get the job done.
        Now, we have made sure that Social Security checks will keep coming
    in the year 2000. I'd also like to say that after we've got the computer
    problem behind us, we have to continue to focus on the larger issue, the
    policy issue, which is to make sure that the Social Security checks keep
    coming throughout the 21st century. All of you know that at present
    rates of contribution and payment, present rates of retirement, present
    rates of aging and birth and immigration, we estimate that the Social
    Security Trust Fund will be exhausted in about 34 years. We have
    typically tried to keep the life of the trust fund at about 75 years to
    make sure it was absolutely stable. Thirty-four years seems like a long
    time away; I suppose the younger you are, the further away it seems. It
    doesn't seem so far to me now, because things that happened 34 years ago
    are implanted in my mind as if they occurred only yesterday.
        But we are going to face early next year a great challenge of
    fashioning a bipartisan solution to save Social Security for the 21st
    century. I tell everybody it is a formidable problem, but it will only
    get worse if we delay it. And it is a high-class problem; we have this
    problem because we're living longer. The average life expectancy of the
    American people, as reported just a few weeks ago, exceeds 76 years. And
    that is a high-class problem. We should be grateful for this problem.
        When Social Security was established and there was no early
    retirement at 62, and you couldn't draw until 65, the average male life
    expectancy in America was 56--in the 1930's. So we've gone from 56 to
    over 76, and of course, for women, it's a couple of years higher. And as
    Pauline says, women are especially dependent on Social Security for
    reasons that I think would be obvious to anyone, and therefore have a
    particularly large stake in our resolving this problem in a prompt and
    appropriate way.
        Now, in the last year--in this year, 1998--I have gone around the
    country and held these bipartisan forums. Members of Congress in both
    Houses and both parties have taken a special interest and have been very
    good to attend these forums. Just a few days ago, we had a 2-day first
    White House Conference on Social Security. The second day, I went over
    to Blair House and met with nearly 50 Members of Congress in both
    parties and both Houses. It was an astonishing outpouring of genuine
    interest.
        Now, I don't want to minimize the problems, and they're different
    from the Y2K problem. The Y2K problem, you know what to do to fix it
    once you identify it. Here we've identified it, and there are obvious
    differences about what should be done to fix Social Security for the
    21st century. But we all know that there are basically only three
    options: We can raise taxes again, which no one wants to do because the
    payroll tax is regressive. Over half the American people who are working
    pay more payroll tax than income tax today. We can cut benefits, and it
    might be all right for someone like me who has a good retirement plan,
    but it's not a very good idea for someone like Pauline. Or we can work
    together to try to find some way to increase the rate of return. And
    there are a number of options that we are discussing.
        The point I want to make to all of you is that we have the same
    obligation to fix the system in policy terms for the 21st century that
    these fine people we honor today have discharged in fixing the Y2K
    problem. And if we approach it with the same can-do attitude and the
    same determination to reach a result, we can achieve that.
        So today we celebrate, and I hope the celebration that we have today
    will steel our determination to make sure that people like Pauline can
    be making this speech 50 years from now.

    [[Page 2535]]

        Thank you very much, and Happy New Year.

    Note: The President spoke at 10:35 a.m. in Room 450 of the Old Executive
    Office Building. In his remarks, he referred to Social Security
    recipient Pauline Johnson Jones, who introduced the President; President
    Saddam Hussein of Iraq; Kathleen M. Adams, Assistant Deputy Commissioner
    for Systems, Social Security Administration; and Delegate Robert A.
    Underwood of Guam and his wife, Lorraine.