[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.