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House panel gives government an `F' for Year 2000 fix

Web posted June 3, 1998

By TED BRIDIS
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON -- A House panel today gave the federal government an ``F'' grade for its efforts to resolve the Year 2000 problem with its most important computers. It cautioned against panic but urged President Clinton to declare fixing the glitch a national priority.

The Transportation and State departments were graded especially low, along with the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Energy, Department of Health and Human Services and the Agency for International Development. All those agencies were given ``F'' grades individually.

``We must not panic,'' said Rep. Steve Horn, R-Calif., chairman of the House Government Reform and Oversight subcommittee on technology. ``The president and his administration must set priorities if the conversion is to be successful. ... Now is the time for the president to designate the Year 2000 problem as a national priority.''

The Social Security Administration was the government's top performer, earning an ``A+'' from the Republican-controlled subcommittee. But Horn noted that its good work is no guarantee that benefit checks won't be interrupted, for example, because checks actually are issued by the Treasury Department, which was given a ``C.''

``This is a potential bottleneck of dramatic proportions,'' Horn said.

Experts have warned for years that many computers originally programmed to recognize only the last two digits of a year will fail on Jan. 1, 2000, when machines will assume it is 1900.

Some computers can be reprogrammed through tedious review of their software code, but many devices have embedded microchips that must be physically replaced.

The Federal Aviation Administration, for example, reported in December that it found at least 10,000 electronic devices, such as communication or navigation systems, with embedded microchips that could create Year 2000 failures.