Guam - the first U.S. territory to enter the new millenium
Question: With that said, are we out of the woods on Y2K?
Answer: In terms of any level of national concern, I think we are out of the woods.
The Council will have done several things that are unprecedented, or close to it. One is that we'll have gone out of business at the end of March, when we said we would. Another is that the agencies will give back between 10 and 15 percent of the $2.1 billion emergency supplement we got from Congress. Rarely do people say, "Here's the money back that we didn't need."
I think it's
been a great effort. The public sector, and the Federal government in
particular, met the Y2K challenge -- and met it more efficiently and more
quickly, in some ways, than the private sector. Career employees, the
front-line people we've always looked to for reinvention ideas, did the
work. They did the work successfully, they were well led by government
executives, and I think the public needs to understand that the government
can work. When it organizes itself effectively, it can do a first class
job.
Absolutely. Congratulations on a great success and a job very well done.
I was happy to be along for the ride.
4/3/00
