U.S. Senate Panel Chief Blasts Europe Y2K Vote

Updated 6:02 PM ET November 18, 1999

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chairman of a special Senate panel on the Year 2000 blasted as ill-informed a European Parliament call Thursday to shut down nuclear weapon alert systems over the New Year to avoid accidental launches.

"This vote is particularly troubling in that it demonstrates an overall lack of awareness with regard to Y2K's potential effects on a country's infrastructure," Sen. Robert Bennett, Republican of Utah, said in a statement.

He said the European move also showed "a profound misunderstanding of Y2K's potential effects on ballistic missile systems."

Deputies in Strasbourg voted to appeal to the United States and Russia in particular to guard against possible errors in computer systems that may not recognize the date change to 2000.

U.S. and Russian military officials are to spend New Year's Eve together in a special command center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, to monitor launch data across the century date change.

Bennett -- who was involved in setting up the U.S.-Russian Center for Year 2000 Strategic Stability -- said shutting down missile warning systems would be "far more dangerous than any problem that may arise from Y2K."

"What the European Parliament is asking countries to do is wear blindfolds during the crucial date rollover," he said.

The so-called Y2K glitch could cause some computers and the systems they control to crash or malfunction when their internal clocks encounter "00" in areas that track dates.

Bennett said there was no danger of missiles being launched by a computer glitch because a person always is part of the command process.

"International cooperation and awareness are the keys to avoiding a Y2K catastrophe, not pulling the plug and hoping for the best," he said.

The European Parliament also voted to ask countries with nuclear power stations to shut them down over New Year's Eve unless they had been shown to be millennium compliant.

Deputies said their appeal would be aimed specifically at countries in central and Eastern Europe, Turkey, Russia and members of the former Soviet Union.

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Well at least some folks have the GUTS to step up to the plate when it comes to the lives of their citizens!!

Ray

-- Ray (ray@totacc.com), November 18, 1999

Answers

Yeah, right!1 No planes will fall out of the sky either because the pilots have manual control !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Taz

-- Taz (Tassie123@aol.com), November 18, 1999.

"This vote is particularly troubling in that it demonstrates an overall lack of awareness with regard to Y2K's potential effects on a country's infrastructure," Sen. Robert Bennett, Republican of Utah, said in a statement

And this is the man that some people have said has been the Paul Revere of Y2K. These politicians don't really know what-in-the-hell Y2K will do in the nuclear area, PERIOD. Yet they will risk lives in the face of the uncertainty.

Not the vote, for YOUR lack of awareness and pro-spin posture you will be held accountable for post-rollover disasters.

-- PJC (paulchri@msn.com), November 18, 1999.

Senate Bob Bennett has my support. I trust the man. Now if President Clinton was saying this that would be a whole nuther deal.

-- the Virginian (1@1.com), November 18, 1999.

...after ww2, a whole buncha pols and nasty people found out that folks do indeed remember who sold them out....

-- noslave (ain'tsure@whoknows.con), November 18, 1999.

I worked on early warning systems in the early 80's ,If y2k isnt giving mr bennett sleepless nights nothing will. We need to remind China and Russia that they have children too. Keeping Peace is everyones job. Nobody wins if war breaks out. Y2k biggest danger is the failure of common sense on behalf of our leadership. You can chuck and jive the people but you better deal straight with the other superpower leaders or it's history. It only takes 1000 nukes to eliminate all life on this planet. Gone toast,burnt toast. They need to not think with their little head and start thinking with there big head. Y2k will require real leadership and management to walk the world thru a very tough time.

-- y2k aware mike (y2k aware mike @ conservation .com), November 19, 1999.