Congressional Republicans have stepped up their criticism of the Clinton administration's efforts to prevent the government's computer systems from malfunctioning at the turn of the century.
The GOP devoted its weekly radio address last weekend to blasting the administration for failing to deal with the year 2000 computer problem, calling on President Clinton to use his bully pulpit to raise awareness of the millennium bug and to push federal agencies to take the problem more seriously.
"The administration is dropping the ball," said Rep. Connie Morella, R-Md., a member of the House subcommittee that oversees federal information technology management. "At their current pace, many federal agencies will simply not be ready for the new millennium."
Morella said Congress has worked hard to raise awareness of the problem. Last month House Government Management, Information and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Stephen Horn, R-Calif., questioned the executive branch's commitment to solving the year 2000 problem.
"We must have the president's help," Morella said.
Morella called on President Clinton to issue an executive order instructing agency heads to make year 2000 fixes a top priority. She also recommended that Clinton appoint an official whose sole job would be overseeing the government's year 2000 efforts.
Sally Katzen, administrator of the Office of Management and Budget's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, is responsible for year 2000 oversight, among other responsibilities. Last month, Katzen said agencies' fiscal 1999 information technology budgets will be tied to their progress in eliminating the millennium bug. OMB also pushed up the deadline for fixing computer systems to get agencies moving faster on the problem.
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