[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 106 (Monday, June 24, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E826]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 COMMERCE, JUSTICE, SCIENCE, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 
                                  2020

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. LIZZIE FLETCHER

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 19, 2019

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 3055) making 
     appropriations for the Departments of Commerce and Justice, 
     Science, and Related Agencies for the fiscal year ending 
     September 30, 2020, and for other purposes:

  Mrs. FLETCHER. Madam Chair, I urge support of my amendment to H.R. 
3055 that would require the Administrator of the National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, to contract with the National 
Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine to undertake an 
inaugural decadal study of the terrestrial U.S. weather enterprise. 
This amendment would require the study be completed no later than 
December 15, 2020.
  The landscape of weather prediction and forecasting in the U.S. has 
changed in the last decade due to the tremendous growth of the 
enterprise, which is made up of public, private, and academic sectors. 
Despite new innovations and technologies that have been developed, the 
U.S. currently finds itself trailing other countries in weather 
modeling and forecasting capabilities when it was once the global 
leader.
  We are at a crucial juncture, and it is important to understand what 
the current challenges the U.S. weather enterprise faces so that we can 
improve U.S. weather modeling and forecasting capabilities and help the 
U.S. regain international leadership in this field. Although these 
sectors operate in complementary roles to provide accurate and timely 
weather forecasts to the American public to protect life and property, 
their individual goals don't always align in a way that provides the 
largest possible benefit to society.
  A decadal survey would provide an opportunity to define a unified 
vision and long-term goals for the private, academic, and government 
sectors of the weather enterprise. This survey would include a current 
assessment of all sectors of the weather enterprise, and also look back 
over the last five years to understand how it has performed. 
Policymakers would be able to use the decadal survey to prioritize and 
guide future investments for the next decade in science, weather 
modeling, forecasting, data assimilation, and observation technologies.
  I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.

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