    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 13 (Monday, April 5, 1999)]
    [Pages 574-575]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Statement on Signing the Small Business Year 2000 Readiness Act

    April 2, 1999

        Today I am pleased to sign into law S. 314, the ``Small Business
    Year 2000 Readiness Act.''
        In 9 months we will enter the new millennium. We have made
    tremendous progress in our efforts to address the Year 2000 (Y2K)
    computer problem. In spite of this progress, however, too many
    businesses, especially small- and medium-sized firms, will not be ready
    unless they act immediately.
        This week, the Small Business Administration (SBA), the Department
    of Commerce, the Department of Agriculture, and other Federal
    departments and agencies of the President's Council on Year 2000
    Conversion are sponsoring ``Small Business Y2K Action Week.'' At
    hundreds of Y2K seminars and training events across the country, these
    agencies are educating small businesses on the steps necessary for
    achieving Y2K compliance.
        The message we are delivering to small businesses at these events is
    that every small business must take responsibility for making sure it is
    ready for the Year 2000 by taking action now. Every business should
    assess its exposure to the Y2K problem, ask its vendors and suppliers to
    be ready as well, and develop contingency plans in case its own critical
    systems or the systems of its vendors fail as we move into the Year
    2000.
        The legislation I am signing today will help ensure that the
    Nation's small businesses have access to the capital they need to be
    ``Y2K-OK'' in the Year 2000. The Act will authorize the SBA to provide
    loan guarantees for two Y2K purposes. First, it will enable small
    businesses to purchase the systems, software, equipment, and services
    necessary to become Y2K compliant. Second, it will assist small
    businesses that suffer economic injury as a result of the Y2K problem
    during the Year 2000. Authority for this special program will terminate
    on December 31, 2000.
        I want to especially recognize the job that Administrator Aida
    Alvarez and the Small Business Administration have done in ensuring that
    the Nation's small business community is ready to meet the Y2K
    challenge. Through its leadership of Small Business Y2K Action Week, and
    its other extensive outreach efforts, the SBA has done an excellent job
    of raising the awareness of small businesses concerning the Y2K
    challenge. I would also like to thank the Congress for acting swiftly
    this session to ensure that we have this additional tool for assisting
    small businesses in their efforts to address this problem.

    [[Page 575]]

        The Nation's small businesses are the backbone of our country's
    vibrant and growing economy. In signing S. 314 today, I hope to ensure
    that our small business community will move into the Year 2000 with
    minimal disruption to our Nation's economy.

                                                William J. Clinton
    The White House,
    April 2, 1999.

    Note: S. 314, approved April 2, was assigned Public Law No. 106-8. An
    original was not available for verification of the content of this
    statement.