IP: Wired News: Feds Still Failing on Y2K

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

Date: Wed, 9 Sep 1998 18:21:11 -0700
To: farber () cis upenn edu
From: Spencer Ante <seante () earthlink net>


Hi Dave,


I'm covering Y2K for Wired News and, given your interest in the subject, I
thought you might be interested in republishing this story.


The full story can be found at:
http://www.wired.com/news/news/politics/story/14919.html




 Feds Still Failing on Y2K by Spencer E. Ante (seante () earthlink net)


4:10pm  9.Sep.98.PDT 


The US government is no longer flunking the Year 2000 test, but it's still getting lousy grades.


That was the conclusion of the lastest quarterly congressional report card that gave the feds a D for their attempts to 
fix the so-called Year 2000 problem, also known as Y2K.


"We should be cautious, however, about using the word 'improvement' in the context of a D grade," said Representative 
Steven Horn (R-California), chairman of the House Subcommittee on Government Management, Information, and Technology, 
in releasing his report Wednesday.


"This is not a grade you take home to your parents, and it is definitely not a grade to take back to the voters and 
taxpayers," said Horn, who gave the government an F in his last report card.


But Jack Gribben, spokesman for President Clinton's Year 2000 Conversion Council, which oversees federal Year 2000 
efforts, said Horn's grading system was misleading. Although he generally agrees with the report's findings, Gribben 
said the government's progress on flyswatting the millennium bug deserved a better grade.


"If I had to grade the government, I would give it an overall grade of C or B-," said Gribben. "We are confident that 
the vast majority of the government's critical systems are going to be ready for the year 2000."
                                ###


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