[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 53 (Wednesday, April 2, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E643-E644]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         GLOBAL CHANGE RESEARCH AND DATA MANAGEMENT ACT OF 2003

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. MARK UDALL

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, April 2, 2003

  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, today I am pleased to introduce 
the Global Change Research and Data Management Act of 2003. This bill 
updates the existing law that formally established the U.S. Global 
Change Research Program (USGCRP) in 1990. This bill is also similar to 
the Global Change Research and Data Management Act that I introduced in 
the 107th Congress.
  Over the past decade, the USGCRP has significantly advanced our 
scientific knowledge of Earth's atmosphere and climate and has provided 
us with a wealth of new data and information about the functioning of 
our planet.
  However, the program has not produced sufficient information, in 
terms of both content and format, to be the basis for sound decisions. 
The program has focused nearly all of its resources and efforts on 
scientific inquiry. Only one broad assessment of the impact of global 
change on society has ever been attempted by the program, and that 
assessment was completed nearly seven years after its Congressionally 
mandated deadline. The local, state, regional, and national 
policymakers responsible for managing resources, fostering economic 
development, and responding to natural disasters need information to 
guide their decisions. In my view, it is critical that Congress 
reorient the USGCRP toward a user-driven research endeavor.
  Most people agree that the climate is changing, but there is 
widespread disagreement about how much is the result of human 
activities. I think this bill deserves the support of people on both 
sides of that argument.
  We need to move beyond debates about whether global change is 
occurring and allocating responsibility for the changes. I continue to 
believe fervently that we must do all we can to soften our impact on 
the environment and to slow the pace of global change. But we are going 
to have to deal with climate change with some mix of mitigation and 
adaptation. We must acknowledge the interdependence of our social, 
economic and environmental systems and learn to anticipate and adjust 
to changes that will inevitably occur.
  In its recent review of the Administration's draft strategic plan for 
the USGCRP, the National Academy of Sciences acknowledged the need for 
research to evaluate strategies to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of 
global change, and the Academy recommended that the plan be revised to 
enhance efforts to support decision-making. The Global Change Research 
and Data Management Act of 2003 reorients the program to accomplish 
these goals.
  The NAS praised the Administration for including the development of 
decision support tools in the strategic plan, but criticized the

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plan for its failure to ``recognize the full diversity of decision 
makers'' and for failing to ``describe mechanisms for two-way 
communication with stakeholders.''

  The Global Change Research and Data Management Act would address 
these criticisms by requiring the Administration to identify and 
consult with members of the user community in developing the USGCRP 
research plan. The bill would also mandate the involvement of the 
National Governors Association in evaluating the program plan from the 
perspective of the user community. These steps would help to ensure 
that the information needs of the policy community will be met as 
generously as the funding needs of the academic community.
  The 1990 law outlined a highly specific organizational structure for 
the USGCRP. My bill would eliminate this detailed organizational 
structure and provide the President with the flexibility to assemble an 
Interagency Committee and organizational structure that will best 
deliver the products Congress is requesting. My bill would, however, 
retain many of the key features of current law--the requirements for a 
ten-year strategic plan, for periodic assessments of the effects of 
global change on the natural, social, and economic systems upon which 
we depend, and for increased international cooperation in global change 
science.
  My bill would establish a new interagency working group to coordinate 
federal policies on data management and archiving. Advances in 
computer, monitoring, and satellite technologies have vastly expanded 
our ability to collect and analyze data. We must do a much better job 
of managing and archiving these important data resources to support the 
work of current and future scientists and policymakers.
  As was clear from the impasse on the climate provisions of the energy 
bill in the 107th Congress, we have yet to agree on how much more 
information, if any, is needed before we take actions to slow the 
effects of human activities on global change. These are tough policy 
questions that we will continue to wrestle with. This bill does not 
offer specific policy direction, but it does affirm the need for the 
continued strong federal support for global change research, and it 
does map out a new emphasis on production of information needed to 
inform these important policy debates. As the world's leader in science 
and technology, it is incumbent on us to develop solutions that will 
protect our planet's resources and permit continued economic and social 
progress for our nation and for the world.

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