The government is not just standing like a deer in the headlights:

ANNOUNCMENT The President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion will convene on Thursday, September 10, 1:30pm -3:30pm, at the White House Conference Center. Please find attached John Koskinen's recent message describing the format for the meeting.

Due to space constraints, we must limit participation to one person per agency. Please indicate by return email who will be attending for your organization. In advance of Thursday's session, please post information in the secure area of the y2k.gov site about your Working Group activities, including minutes from recent meetings, notices of upcoming meetings, information about outreach events, etc. The Council staff will be posting minutes from the Council's August 13 meeting, several assessment tools being used by sector groups, and highlights of John's schedule for September. (For questions on how to access the secure area, call * *at ***-****.)

Many thanks. We hope you had a good August and look forwarding to seeing you.

John A. Koskinen 09/04/98 03:53:55 PM Record Type: Record To: See the distribution list at the bottom of this message From: John Koskinen Subject: Next Week's Meeting

We will devote all of our meeting next Thursday, September 10, at 1:30, to beginning to develop a government contingency plan. While you're out enjoying the Labor Day weekend, I thought I'd give you a general idea of how we're going to proceed to give you something to think about in your spare time. (More detailed information will follow next week.)

We'll begin by having each working group take one minute to describe thei present expectation of the most likely, worst-case scenario for their sector. I understand that, in many cases, we have relatively little to go on at this time, but we'll take your best guess. We also would like you to focus on the activities in your sector only, recognizing that the electric power, oil and gas, telecommunications, financial institutions and transportation working groups will discuss the basic infrastructure issues that everyone depends upon. Possible failures there can be factored in later to other groups.

We'll then divide into four groups to consider the total impact of the 34 scenarios (it's too late to get off the Council). Each group will then come up with it's own list of the 8 most critical things that the Federal government will have to do or be prepared to do to respond to the scenarios described.

We'll then reconvene, get reports from the four groups, and discuss the implications of what we've heard. In particular, this exercise will help us better understand the nature of the assessments we will need from each working group over the next 15 months as well as what structure or structures we should be considering to organize our activities.

NOTES:

PRESIDENT'S COUNCIL ON YEAR 2000 CONVERSION

Meeting Minutes

September 10, 1998

WELCOME

John Koskinen, Assistant to the President and Chair of the President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion, opened the meeting at 1:30 p.m. in the Truman Room of the White House Conference Center, 726 Jackson Place, Washington, DC.

CHAIR'S UPDATE

The Chair encouraged members to post new material regularly on the Council Web site and thanked GSA for providing training on use of the secure area of the site.

The Chair announced that Elaine Kolish, FTC, has agreed to coordinate the activities of the Consumer Affairs Working Group. The Working Group will launch a consumer response program, to include development of a Y2K area on the www.consumer.gov Web site and establishment of a toll-free hotline with fax-back capability.

The Chair informed the Council that work on the Good Samaritan legislation continues and is coming to closure.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Plans for the coming month include:

7 a hospital-based outreach event led by the Health Care Working Group;

7 SBA's Year 2000 Action Week for October 19-23;

7 The Council is considering expanding upon SBA's efforts to focus as much attention as possible on the need for managers of small and medium-sized organizations to take action on Y2K.

7 and a meeting of the State, Local, and Tribal Governments Working Group on Native Americans concerns to be hosted by GSA and DOI at the Interior Department.

The Chair reminded Council members to consider the Y2K implications that any new federal requirements and/or regulatory changes might impose on companies struggling to prepare their systems for the century date change.

WORKING GROUP REPORTS

The Chair invited the head of each Working Group to discuss worst-case scenarios for his/her sector as of January 1, 2000. Council members then divided into four groups to deliberate prudent steps the federal government might take to mitigate any disruptions that may occur. The meeting concluded with reports from each of the groups. Council members stressed the need to communicate accurate information to the public throughout 1999. Council members also stressed the need for local communities to develop their own contingency plans.

MINUTES

PRESIDENT'S COUNCIL ON YEAR 2000 CONVERSION Meeting Minutes September 10, 1998

WELCOME

John Koskinen, Assistant to the President and Chair of the President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion (Council), opened the meeting at 1:30 p.m. in the Truman Room of the White House Conference Center, 726 Jackson Place, Washington, DC.

CHAIR'S UPDATE

The Chair encouraged members to post new material regularly on the Council Web site and thanked GSA for providing training on use of the secure area of the site.

The Chair announced that Elaine Kolish, FTC, has agreed to coordinate the Consumer Affairs Working Group. The Working Group will launch a consumer response program, to include development of a Y2K area on the consumer.gov Web site and establishment of a toll-free hotline with fax-back capability.

Noting that the OMB and Horn quarterly reports are out, the Chair reminded members that Council members are moving into "real time" and voiced his hope that the numbers will improve by the September 30 deadline.

The Chair then announced that work on the Good Samaritan legislation continues and is coming to closure. He reported that industry groups have, for the most part, agreed on the language. He also noted that, although the Council and working group meetings are not subject to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), a clause about FACA has been incorporated in the legislation

UPCOMING EVENTS

Plans for the coming month include:

a hospital-based outreach event led by the Health Care Working Group; SBA's Year 2000 Action Week for October 10-23; The Council is working to expand upon SBA's efforts by involving other agencies and additional private sector supporters and by having senior Administration officials host events. and a meeting of the State, Local and Tribal Governments Working Group on Native Americans' concerns to be hosted by GSA and DOI at the Interior Department.

The Chair reminded Council members to consider the Y2K implications that any new federal requirements and/or regulatory changes might impose on companies struggling to prepare their systems for the century-change.

Gerard Glaser, National Science Foundation (NSF), asked whether the Government has considered making January 3, 2000, the Federal holiday rather than December 31, 1999. The Chair indicated that the idea is being discussed. The Chair asked Council members to notify him if they receive indications that the holiday change could make a significant difference in a particular area.

WORKING GROUP REPORTS

The Chair invited the head of each Working Group to discuss what is most likely to occur in his/her sector as of January 1, 2000. Council members then divided into four groups to deliberate prudent steps the federal government might take to mitigate any disruptions that may occur.

Areas that the four groups agreed on as priorities for Council action include:

Communications - to the public and among key government agencies and private-sector service providers Contingency planning - at national, international, and community levels; need to pre-deploy assets; requirement that Council working groups plan alongside umbrella organizations and create joint emergency response mechanisms

DISCUSSION

Al Pesachowitz, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), noted that the northern half of the country is more vulnerable than other areas because of winter weather. He asked whether the Council should focus on that area in our contingency planning.

Council members discussed the need to disseminate accurate information to the public over the coming months so that citizens will not panic and take counter-productive actions. It was noted that large companies should also begin communicating with consumers to prevent mass hording of products. Council members suggested the possibility of running a national advertising campaign.

The Chair commented that if we take steps to raise public awareness, we need to be prepared to provide thorough answers to questions likely to be raised.

Kitty Higgins, DOL, asked whether the Council should develop state-by-state contingency plans. Dennis DeWalt, FEMA, commented that FEMA teaches states to plan for all hazards. He also noted that funding must be available if states need to deploy their National Guards.

John O'Keefe, Department of State, asked whether the U.S. has a nationwide emergency communications system that is Y2K-compliant. Dennis DeWalt replied that the Emergency Broadcast System and National Warning System use dedicated circuits and connect to all state governments. He indicated as well that high-frequency radio systems do not have significant Y2K problems. He expressed concern that local fire and police departs may have difficulties with their communications systems.

Discussion followed on the importance of informing the public about potential brief interruptions in supplies or services. The Chair suggested that next year, the government may elect to educate citizens about how to make reasonable preparations for the century-change (e.g. suggesting that people who depend on prescription medications acquire an extra prescription in the fall to have on hand). The government will also need to reassure the public that community emergency response services will be up and running.

WRAP-UP

The Chair concluded the meeting by stressing how important it is for Working Groups to continue their outreach efforts and to implement plans, in partnership with their umbrella organizations, for gathering Y2K readiness information.

ADJOURNMENT

The Chair thanked Council members for their participation and adjourned the meeting at 3:30pm.

ATTEDNEES

Kathy Adams, SSA Lawrence Barrett, SBA Harriet Brown, DOI/GSA Ernesto Castro, VA Steve Colgate, DOJ Bill Curtis, DOD Frederick S. Davidson, CIAO Dennis DeWalt, FEMA Gene Dodaro, GAO Mortimer Downey, DOT John Dyer, SSA Bob Gee, DOE Laurence Gershwin, National Intelligence Council Gerard Glaser, NSF Michael Greenberger, CFTC Elizabeth Harrington, OPM Kitty Higgins, DOL Lee Holcomb, NASA Kent Hughes, DOC Nancy Killefer, Treasury Elaine Kolish, FTC Richard Lindsey, SEC Marsha MacBride, FCC David H. Meyer, DOE Liza McClenaghan, Department of State Mohamed Muhsin [alternate sent but name not readable on list], World Bank Mark Nishan, OCC Richard Nygard, USAID John O'Keefe, Department of State Al Pesachowitz, EPA Anne Reed, USDA Shereen Remez, GSA Victor Riche, USIA Kathleen Sherman, FERC Dick Stevens, Federal Reserve System Kevin Thurm, DHHS Richard Weirich, USPS Daryl White, DOI Nina Winkler, DoEd Morley Winograd, NPRG

Janet Abrams, President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion Jack Gribben, President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion Mickey Ibarra, President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion Phyllis Kaiser-Dark, President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion John Koskinen, President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion (Chair) Shirley Malia, CIO Council Raynell K. Morris, President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion Krista Paquin, President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion Jasmeet Seehra, OMB Ed Springer, OMB Martin Kwapinski, GSA Theresa Noll, GSA Cynthia Warner, GSA

-- (Busy@the.top), February 15, 1999

Answers

These are some sick puppies. Koskinen notes at the outset that the infrastructure (power, telecom, banking, transportation)is subject to "possible failure". Then the group members come up with this:

"It was noted that large companies should also begin communicating with consumers to prevent mass hording (sic) of products. Council members suggested the possibility of running a national advertising campaign."

I'm glad my name is not on that list.

By the way, can anyone corroborate the accuracy of this document?

-- Puddintame (dit@dot.com), February 15, 1999.

"The government is not just standing like a deer in the headlights: " No indeed, the vehicle has long past the government deer.

Hopefully they have made contingency plans to have an alternative light source for their upcoming meetings. On second thought they might do much better just working in the dark !!

Ray

-- Ray (ray@totacc.com), February 15, 1999.

Puddintame,

I'll ask the same question...

Can anyone corroborate the accuracy of this document?

-- Kevin (mixesmusic@worldnet.att.net), February 15, 1999.

Yeah, I'll corroborate the meeting minutes. It's authentic.

-- Pinnochio (wj@clinton.com), February 15, 1999.