Year 2000 Preparedness Act of 1998

Summary: Year 2000 Preparedness Act of 1998 - Directs the President to provide for the acceleration of the development of business continuity plans by Federal agencies to ensure the uninterrupted delivery by those agencies of critical mission-related services. 
(Sec. 4) Expresses the sense of the Congress that:  (1) the President should aggressively promote Year 2000 date change awareness for information technology systems and sensitive infrastructure applications; (2) the President should authorize the Chair of the Year 2000 Conversion Council to take a leadership role in resolving Year 2000 (Y2K) issues of any critical Federal agency system that is in jeopardy of not meeting the January 1, 2000 deadline; (3) the Chair should work toward a national strategy to assure that the critical infrastructures and key sectors of the economy will be prepared for the Year 2000 date change; (4) the Chair is making a significant contribution to Y2K problem awareness by scheduling a National Y2K Action Week for October 19 through 23, 1998; (5) the Small Business Administration (SBA), the Department of Commerce, the Department of Agriculture, and other Federal agencies should undertake maximum efforts to assist American family businesses and farmers in assessing their exposure to the Y2K problem, undertaking necessary remedial steps, and formulating contingency plans; and (6) State and local governments, as well as private sector industry groups and companies, should participate in the effort to prepare the American economy for the year 2000. 
(Sec. 5) Provides for all Federal agency reports to OMB relating to the Y2K problem to be concurrently transmitted to the Congress, including all agency monthly submissions to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). 
(Sec. 6) Directs the Chair to develop guidelines of best practices and standards for remediation and validation with respect to the Y2K problem to provide better direction for government and private sector efforts. 
(Sec. 7) Requires the Chair to submit to the Congress any national assessment of the Y2K problem conducted through or in conjunction with the Council covering all critical national infrastructures and key sectors of the economy. 
(Sec. 8) Requires the head of each Federal agency to ensure that all systems and hardware administered by the agency are Year 2000 compliant to ensure that no significant disruption of the agency's operations or data exchange partners occurs.  Requires quarterly progress implementation reports to the Congress. 
(Sec. 9) Directs the National Institute of Standards and Technology, in conjunction with the SBA, to develop a Year 2000 compliance outreach program to assist small and medium-sized businesses with respect to the Y2K problem. 
(Sec. 10) Directs the Under Secretary of Commerce for Technology to develop a Year 2000 consumer awareness program to assist the public in becoming aware of the implications of the Y2K problem.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Year 2000 Preparedness Act of 
1998''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act--
            (1) the term ``end-to-end testing'' means testing data 
        exchange software with respect to--
                    (A) the initiation of the exchange by sending 
                computers;
                    (B) transmission through intermediate 
                communications software and hardware; and
                    (C) receipt and acceptance by receiving computers;
            (2) the term ``small and medium-sized businesses'' means 
        businesses with less than 500 employees;
            (3) the term ``Year 2000 compliant'' means, with respect to 
        information technology, that the information technology 
        accurately processes (including calculating, comparing, and 
        sequencing) date and time data from, into, and between the 20th 
        and 21st centuries and the years 1999 and 2000, and leap year 
        calculations, to the extent that other information technology 
        properly exchanges date and time data with it;
            (4) the term ``Year 2000 computer problem'' means, with 
        respect to information technology, any problem which prevents 
        such technology from accurately processing, calculating, 
        comparing, or sequencing date or time data--
                    (A) from, into, or between--
                            (i) the 20th and 21st centuries; or
                            (ii) the years 1999 and 2000;
                    (B) with regard to leap year calculations; or
                    (C) with regard to such other dates as the Year 
                2000 Conversion Council may identify and designate; and
            (5) the term ``Year 2000 Conversion Council'' means the 
        President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion established under 
        section 2 of Executive Order No. 13073, issued on February 4, 
        1998;

SEC. 3. CRITICAL GOVERNMENT SERVICES.

    The President shall provide for the acceleration of the development 
of business continuity plans by Federal agencies necessary to ensure 
the uninterrupted delivery by those agencies of critical mission-
related services.

SEC. 4. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of the Congress that--
            (1) the President should take a high profile national 
        leadership position to aggressively promote Year 2000 date 
        change awareness for information technology systems and 
        sensitive infrastructure applications;
            (2) the President should authorize the Chair of the Year 
        2000 Conversion Council to take a leadership role in resolving 
        Year 2000 issues in any critical Federal civilian agency system 
        that is in jeopardy because of ineffective management of not 
        meeting the January 1, 2000, deadline with respect to the Year 
        2000 computer problem;
            (3) consistent with the spirit of the Government 
        Performance and Results Act of 1993, the Chair of the Year 2000 
        Conversion Council, in consultation with the President's 
        Council on Infrastructure Assurance, officers of the Federal 
        Government and of State and local governments, and 
        representatives of the private sector, should work toward a 
        national strategy to assure that the critical infrastructures 
        and key sectors of the economy will be prepared for the Year 
        2000 date change, with such strategy including, for each 
        sector, goals appropriate to each;
            (4) the Chair of the Year 2000 Conversion Council is making 
        a significant contribution to Year 2000 computer problem 
        awareness by scheduling a National Y2K Action Week for October 
        19 through 23, 1998;
            (5) the Small Business Administration, the Department of 
        Commerce, the Department of Agriculture, and other appropriate 
        Federal agencies should undertake maximum efforts to assist 
        American family businesses and farmers in assessing their 
        exposure to the Year 2000 computer problem, undertaking the 
        necessary remedial steps, and formulating contingency plans; 
        and
            (6) State and local governments, as well as private sector 
        industry groups and companies, should find ways to participate 
        in this effort to prepare the American economy for the year 
        2000.

SEC. 5. AGENCY REPORTS.

    All Federal agency reports to the Office of Management and Budget 
relating to the Year 2000 computer problem shall be concurrently 
transmitted to the Congress, including all Federal agency monthly 
submissions to the Office of Management and Budget.

SEC. 6. GUIDELINES.

    The Chair of the Year 2000 Conversion Council is encouraged to 
develop, in consultation with industry, guidelines of best practices 
and standards for remediation and validation with respect to the Year 
2000 computer problem to provide better direction for government and 
private sector efforts.

SEC. 7. NATIONAL ASSESSMENT OF YEAR 2000 COMPUTER PROBLEM.

    The Chair of the Year 2000 Conversion Council shall submit to the 
Congress any national assessment of the Year 2000 computer problem, 
conducted through or in conjunction with the Year 2000 Conversion 
Council, covering all critical national infrastructures and key sectors 
of the economy, including banking and finance, energy, 
telecommunications, transportation, and vital human services which 
protect the public health and safety, the water supply, housing and 
public buildings, and the environment.

SEC. 8. FEDERAL AGENCY ACTIONS.

    To ensure that all computer operations and processing can be 
provided without interruption by Federal agencies after December 31, 
1999, the head of each Federal agency shall--
            (1) take actions necessary to ensure that all systems and 
        hardware administered by the agency are Year 2000 compliant, to 
        the extent necessary to ensure that no significant disruption 
        of the operations of the agency or of the agency's data 
        exchange partners occurs, including--
                    (A) establishing, before March 1, 1999, schedules 
                for testing and implementing new data exchange formats 
                for completing all data exchange corrections, which may 
                include national test days for end-to-end testing of 
                critical processes and associated data exchanges 
                affecting Federal, State, and local governments;
                    (B) notifying data exchange partners of the 
                implications to the agency and the exchange partners if 
                they do not make appropriate date conversion 
                corrections in time to meet the Federal schedule for 
                implementing and testing Year 2000 compliant data 
                exchange processes;
                    (C) giving priority to installing filters necessary 
                to prevent the corruption of mission-critical systems 
                from data exchanges with noncompliant systems; and
                    (D) developing and implementing, as part of the 
                agency's continuity and contingency planning efforts, 
                specific provisions for data exchanges that may fail, 
                including strategies to mitigate operational 
                disruptions if data exchange partners do not make 
                timely date conversion corrections;
            (2) beginning not later than 30 days after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act, convene meetings at least quarterly with 
        representatives of the agency's data exchange partners to 
        assess implementation progress; and
            (3) after each meeting convened pursuant to paragraph (2), 
        transmit to the Congress a report summarizing--
                    (A) the results of that meeting; and
                    (B) the status of the agency's completion of key 
                data exchange corrections, including the extent of data 
                exchange inventoried, an assessment of data exchange 
                formats agreed to with data exchange partners, testing 
                and implementation schedules, and testing and 
                implementation completed.

SEC. 9. ASSISTANCE FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED BUSINESSES.

    To ensure that the Nation's small and medium-sized businesses are 
prepared to meet the Year 2000 computer problem challenge, the National 
Institute of Standards and Technology, in conjunction with the Small 
Business Administration, shall develop a Year 2000 compliance outreach 
program to assist small and medium-sized businesses. Such program shall 
include--
            (1) the development of a Year 2000 self-assessment 
        checklist;
            (2) an explanation of the Year 2000 computer problem and an 
        identification of best practices for resolving the problem;
            (3) a list of Federal Government Year 2000 information 
        resources; and
            (4) a list of Year 2000 compliant products provided by the 
        General Services Administration.

SEC. 10. CONSUMER AWARENESS.

    To ensure that the Nation's consumers are aware of and prepared to 
meet the Year 2000 computer problem challenge, the Under Secretary of 
Commerce for Technology, in consultation with the Consumer Product 
Safety Commission and the Federal Trade Commission, shall develop a 
Year 2000 consumer awareness program to assist the public in becoming 
aware of the implications of the Year 2000 computer problem. Such 
program shall include--
            (1) the development of a Year 2000 self-assessment 
        checklist;
            (2) a list of Federal Government Year 2000 computer problem 
        information resources;
            (3) a list of Year 2000 compliant products provided by the 
        General Services Administration;
            (4) a series of public awareness announcements or seminars 
        on the impact of the Year 2000 computer problem on consumer 
        products and services; and
            (5) a series of public awareness announcements or seminars 
        on the potential effect that the Year 2000 computer problem 
        could have on the provision of services by the Federal 
        Government to the public, and the progress made in resolving 
        the problem by the Federal agencies providing those services.

            Passed the House of Representatives October 13, 1998.

            Attest:

                                                                 Clerk.