Veto may stall IRS, Customs IT BY Judi Hasson 11/01/2000 RELATED STORIES

"Congress clears Customs funding" [FCW.com, Oct. 16, 2000]

"IT issues face a crowded docket" [Federal Computer Week, Sept. 11, 2000]

"The Customs crisis" [Federal Computer Week, June 19, 2000]

President ClintonBs veto of the Treasury, Postal Service and Government Operations bill Tuesday may stall two big information technology projects to modernize systems at the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Customs Service.

The legislation included $130 million to start replacing a 17-year-old legacy system at U.S. borders and $200 million to continue building a new electronic system at the IRS. But these projects could be held up indefinitely if the money is not made available soon.

"We are sorry to see President Clinton take this step and hope that it does not come back to haunt the U.S. economy and American people in the form of export snafus, supply chain disruptions, lost market opportunities and plant layoffs," said Harris Miller, president of the Information Technology Association of America, referring to the customs funding.

The IRS needs an infusion of money to continue building the architecture for IRS Prime, a 15-year project to turn a paper agency into a seamless electronic one.

But Clinton said he was vetoing the appropriations measure because he wanted to sign more pressing money bills, including one for education, before he approves funding to keep government working. It is unclear how Congress and the White House intend to work out their stalemate.

http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2000/1030/web-veto-11-01-00.asp

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), November 01, 2000