Government gets 'B+' in Y2K compliance...11/23/99

(UPI Focus)

WASHINGTON, Nov. 22 (UPI) - The federal government has been given an overall grade of "B+" for Y2K preparedness, but the members of Congress who determined the rating warned of holes in millennium bug readiness. Rep. Stephen Horn, R-Calif., gave 15 federal agencies "A's," but saddled the Justice Department with a "D," because the department has three critical computer systems to fix and is yet to test its backup plan, the Washington Post reported in its Tuesday editions.

Also of concern is the nation's air traffic control system, which Horn said has computers and communications systems that need testing. Horn, despite saying the Federal Aviation Administration is "playing catchup" in the Y2K problem, plans to be flying Dec. 31 from California to Washington. Rep. Constance Morella, R-Md., who along with Horn heads the House of Representative's Year 2000 computer problem task force, said the air traffic control system should operate safely at year's end. She told the Post, "No one has to worry about getting on a plane." The Y2K problem, also known as the millennium bug, refers to fears that computers and software that use only the last two digits of a year in a date will have problems when the year changes from "99" to "00."

There are concerns that the "00" date will cause some computers to deliver incorrect data and others to completely shut down. The Clinton administration has spent about $10 billion to make government computer operations Y2K compliant, and the effort has come a long way from the overall grade of "D" that Horn gave in July 1996. In addition to the 15 agencies that were given "A's," five agencies were given "B's," and three "C's." The Justice Department was the only agency graded lower. According to the Washington Post, an audit by the inspector general of the Department of Housing and Urban Development found eight cities seriously behind schedule in Y2K repairs to public housing. The cities are: Baltimore; Chicago; Dallas; Detroit; Fort Worth, Texas; New Orleans; Omaha, Neb.; and Washington.