[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 3 (Thursday, January 8, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E45]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   INTRODUCING THE NATIONAL HURRICANE RESEARCH INITIATIVE ACT OF 2009

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                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 8, 2009

  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Madam Speaker, I rise today with my 
colleague and good friend from Florida, Representative Ros-Lehtinen, 
and almost 20 bipartisan original cosponsors to introduce a very 
significant piece of legislation, the National Hurricane Research 
Initiative Act of 2009.
  This legislation is largely based on the recommendations presented in 
a 2007 National Science Foundation, NSF, report, Hurricane Warning: The 
Critical Need for a National Hurricane Research Initiative.
  The report delivered a stern warning: ``Relative to the tremendous 
damage future hurricanes will inflict, the current federal investment 
in hurricane science and engineering is entirely insufficient.''
  The state of science today is not advanced enough to inform us 
reliably about when or where hurricanes are going to strike or what 
their precise impact on our communities will be.
  Since 2001, hurricane damage has cost our Nation almost $36 billion 
in economic losses per year. In 2005, Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and 
Wilma accounted for over $160 billion in total damages and the loss of 
almost 1,500 innocent lives. Further, the impact from inland flooding 
and tornadoes, which can result from the onset of hurricanes and 
tropical storms, can be felt throughout the entire United States.
  Currently, 50 percent of the U.S. population lives within 50 miles of 
the coastline. As populations and economies continue to expand in these 
high risk coastline areas, the economic and societal costs will only 
increase when future hurricanes strike our Nation.
  Our Government can ill afford to ignore the advice of its premier 
scientists and put our populations and infrastructure at risk. We need 
to nationally invest in new research to better prepare, respond and 
mitigate these disasters.
  This comprehensive hurricane research bill will improve hurricane 
research dramatically in the United States. The bill authorizes $2.35 
billion in critical hurricane research funding to help scientists study 
and better understand how hurricanes form and intensify, as well as 
enhance early warning systems, infrastructure durability standards, and 
hurricane tracking and prediction capabilities.
  The entire Nation would deeply benefit from enhanced, coordinated 
hurricane research. Better intensity forecasting, long-range 
projections of hurricane activity, emergency management, and hurricane 
mitigation would be advantageous to everyone--from improving the 
ability of local communities to respond to hurricanes to reducing the 
Federal Government's share in recovery efforts by billions of dollars.
  Madam Speaker, our Nation and my State of Florida in particular are 
all too familiar with the immense damage hurricanes can inflict. It is 
imperative that we take significant actions to increase Federal 
investment in new research to better prepare for, respond to, and 
mitigate the devastating impacts of hurricanes. Let us resolve to act 
promptly to address ways to prevent and respond to future hurricanes 
before the next hurricane strikes.
  I ask for my colleagues' support and urge the House leadership to 
bring this legislation to the floor for its swift consideration. There 
is no time for further delay.

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