The details of what we learned so far are contained in a report we plan to issue publicly within the month, bit our hearings are continuing as this is very much a moving target. I will take advantage of this opportunity to briefly outline our findings to date. I am now more optimistic than I once was, bit a lack of data 'in numerous areas leads me to continue to be wary of the unknown. Nearly all affected industries and organizations started Y2K remediation too late. We have made the dissemination of Y2K related information a priority of the Y2K Committee.
Information is the only antidote for panic.
I will continue to encourage publicly traded companies to provide their customers and investors with forthright disclosure statements. I have written to Chairman Levitt both commending him for his continued vigilance, and encouraging greater scrutiny of Y2K disclosure statements, especially those that attempt to gloss over their Y2K issues by providing little or incomplete information on their Y2K preparedness. I request that a copy of that letter be placed into the record of today' hearing. The Commerce and the Judiciary committees deserve substantial credit for bringing the legal issues surrounding the Y2K problem into the spotlight. Not only is it important that we find a reasonable and just means of handling the potential Y2K tidal wave of litigation which threatens to overwhelm our judiciary system, we cannot forget that time and money spent on preparing for endless lawsuits and counter-suits is time and money that is not invested in research and development of Y2K solutions.