[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 40 (Monday, March 15, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2681-S2682]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           NATIONWIDE DIFFERENTIAL GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM

 Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, today is a great day for South 
Dakota and the nation as March 15, 1999, marks the

[[Page S2682]]

operation of a Nationwide Differential Global Positioning System 
(NDGPS) site in Clark, South Dakota. This morning, Secretary of 
Transportation Rodney Slater officially ``flipped the switch'' on the 
Clark site, which activated the Coast Guard's expansion of its maritime 
global positioning system into the NDGPS. The Clark site, along with 
one in Whitney, Nebraska, will provide South Dakota with complete NDGPS 
service at no fee.
  It is not often that a Senator from South Dakota has the opportunity 
to work with the Coast Guard on a project that benefits the people of 
my state. About two years ago, Rudy Persaud with South Dakota 
Department of Transportation contacted me about a technology that was 
developed to find ships out at sea. Rudy, along with a number of 
community development districts in my state, convinced me that this 
same technology could have enormous benefits on the prairies of South 
Dakota. In fact, the benefit to cost ratio for the NDGPS system is an 
astounding 150 to 1, with future uses for the technology appearing 
almost limitless.
  Working with the development districts, the South Dakota Department 
of Transportation's goal was to map every mile of every road in the 
state of South Dakota to give the state and local governments the 
ability to develop their communities and allocate important highway 
funds.
  I was pleased to introduce legislation in 1997 to expand the Coast 
Guard DGPS into a nationwide system. With the help of Senator Daschle, 
the legislation was added to the Department of Transportation's annual 
appropriations bill.
  Throughout the process of securing funding for NDGPS, I have become 
aware of the numerous benefits NDGPS has for rural states like South 
Dakota. Four nonprofit planning districts in South Dakota currently use 
the technology for mapping roads. In some counties, NDGPS will be 
integrated with E-911 systems to provide accurate addresses for rural 
households.
  NDGPS will allow hospital helicopters to electronically locate 
accident sites. The need for such technology was evident two winters 
ago when a Webster woman became stranded in her car in the middle of a 
blizzard. Running low on gas, and with the temperature around -50 
degrees, it took rescue crews several hours to find her and take her to 
safety.
  The US Geological Survey will also map potential flood areas in the 
state, potentially saving lives and millions of dollars in property. 
Considering the farms and communities already inundated with flooding 
from the past two years, I am pleased this technology will allow South 
Dakotans to take a proactive approach to identifying potential flood 
areas.
  The Mid-Dakota Rural Water System is using NDGPS to locate PVC 
pipeline for its system that will provide clean drinking water to over 
30,000 South Dakotans who currently rely on wells or municipal water 
trucked to their home.
  One of the most promising benefits of NDGPS technology will probably 
come in agriculture, South Dakota's number one industry. I look forward 
to working with agriculture leaders in South Dakota to promote and 
support this technology in a way that makes NDGPS an affordable and 
accessible tool. NDGPS, used in precision farming, may save $5 to 14 
per acre by showing farmers exactly how best to apply fertilizer and 
chemical inputs on their land, so as to treat the land well for future 
generations while cutting costs now. NDGPS-based field mapping helps 
determine more accurate yields and makes it easier to more accurately 
utilize fertilizers, chemicals, and crop inputs. This technology can 
also be used by farmers to keep better crop production records. For 
example, this technology makes it possible for a properly equipped 
spray rig to switch chemicals or rates of application to address a 
specific weed problem in a specific section of the field.
  As of today, March 15, 1999, the NDGPS technology is available in 
every community in South Dakota. I want to commend Rudy Persaud and the 
many others involved with NDGPS for their dedication and hard work and 
look forward to working with them on future uses of this incredible 
technology.

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