The federal government's Y2K compliance efforts recently received a 'D-minus' grade by the House Subcommittee on Government Management, Information and Technology, chaired by Representative Steve Horn of California. Nor are they impressing the American public and foreign governments with the urgency of this crisis. The stakes are too high for such partisan political games. Increase defense funding to speed up compliance. Create Y2K compliance penalties and incentives for key federal agencies.
Time is short.
In an August 1997 operational exercise, the Global Command and Control System failed testing when the date was rolled over to the Year 2000. GCCS is deployed at 700 sites worldwide and is used to generate a common operating picture of the battlefield for planning, executing, and managing military operations. He emphasized that he saw such outreach as best being accomplished by working with the federal agencies and through them, with their suppliers, contacts and relevant interest groups. Mr. Koskinen's response was most illuminating. The Center's publications are intended to invigorate and enrich the debate on foreign policy and defense issues.