House asks for more Y2K progress reports

The House of Representatives this week passed a bill calling on the Clinton administration to step up the pace of reports to Congress on the year 2000 computer problem.

Under the Year 2000 Preparedness Act (H.R. 4756), the Office of Management and Budget would be required to send Congress monthly reports on agencies' Y2K progress. Currently, OMB sends reports to Congress quarterly.

The bill would also call on John Koskinen, head of the President's Year 2000 Conversion Council, to submit to Congress a report on Y2K readiness in major sectors of the economy, including banking, transportation and utilities. In addition, the Commerce Department would have to send Congress an assessment of Y2K's international implications.

"While the federal agencies and the private sector have been scrambling to avert a disaster, our hearings and reports demonstrate they are not scrambling fast enough," said Rep. Connie Morella, R-Md., the bill's sponsor. "If our nation does not develop a greater sense of urgency and if we do not take immediate aggressive action, the federal government will be risking the delivery of vital services or functions that are critical to the health, safety and welfare of the American public."

Year 2000 Conversion Council spokesman Jack Gribben said the administration has no objection to the bill.

"The bill is supportive of a lot of the work we have going on already," Gribben said.

For example, the bill calls on the Small Business Administration and the National Institute of Standards and Technology to launch a Y2K outreach program to small- and medium-sized businesses. Next week, SBA, the Y2K council, the Commerce and Agriculture departments, and the Social Security Administration are sponsoring National Y2K Action Week, holding seminars and distributing information to businesses.

In addition, agencies behind on Y2K fixes already report monthly to the Office of Management and Budget, and Y2K czar Koskinen meets with lagging agencies each month to help bring them up to speed.