[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 123 (Tuesday, July 18, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3084-S3085]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 910. Mr. PADILLA (for himself and Mr. Cornyn) submitted an 
amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 2226, to 
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2024 for military activities 
of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for 
defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military 
personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which 
was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

        At the appropriate place, insert the following:

     SEC. ____. CONDUCT OF WINTER SEASON RECONNAISSANCE OF 
                   ATMOSPHERIC RIVERS IN THE WESTERN UNITED 
                   STATES.

       (a) Conduct of Reconnaissance.--
       (1) In general.--Subject to the availability of 
     appropriations, the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron of 
     the Air Force Reserve Command and the Administrator of the 
     National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration may use 
     aircraft, personnel, and equipment necessary to meet the 
     mission requirements of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance 
     Squadron of the Air Force Reserve Command and the National 
     Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration if those aircraft, 
     personnel, and equipment are not otherwise needed for 
     hurricane monitoring and response.
       (2) Activities.--In carrying out paragraph (1), the 53rd 
     Weather Reconnaissance Squadron of the Air Force Reserve 
     Command, in consultation with the Administrator of the 
     National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and 
     appropriate line offices of the National Oceanic and 
     Atmospheric Administration, may--
       (A) improve the accuracy and timeliness of observations to 
     support the forecast and warning services of the National 
     Weather Service for the coasts of the United States;
       (B) collect data in data-sparse regions where conventional, 
     upper-air observations are lacking;
       (C) support water management decisions and flood 
     forecasting through the execution of targeted airborne 
     dropsonde, buoys, autonomous platform observations, satellite 
     observations, remote sensing observations, and other 
     observation platforms as appropriate, including enhanced 
     assimilation of the data from those observations over the 
     eastern, central, and western north Pacific Ocean, the Gulf 
     of Mexico, and the western Atlantic Ocean to improve 
     forecasts of large storms for civil authorities and military 
     decision makers;
       (D) participate in the research and operations partnership 
     that guides flight planning and uses research methods to 
     improve and expand the capabilities and effectiveness of 
     weather reconnaissance over time; and
       (E) undertake such other additional activities as the 
     Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
     Administration, in collaboration with the 53rd Weather 
     Reconnaissance Squadron, considers appropriate to further 
     prediction of dangerous weather events.
       (b) Reports.--
       (1) Air force.--
       (A) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Air Force, in 
     consultation with the Administrator of the National Oceanic 
     and Atmospheric Administration, shall submit to the 
     appropriate committees of Congress a comprehensive report on 
     the resources necessary for the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance 
     Squadron of the Air Force Reserve Command to continue to 
     support, through December 31, 2035--
       (i) the National Hurricane Operations Plan;
       (ii) the National Winter Season Operations Plan; and
       (iii) any other operational requirements relating to 
     weather reconnaissance.
       (B) Appropriate committees of congress.--In this paragraph, 
     the term ``appropriate committees of Congress'' means--
       (i) the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate;
       (ii) the Subcommittee on Defense of the Committee on 
     Appropriations of the Senate;
       (iii) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
     Transportation of the Senate;
       (iv) the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the 
     House of Representatives;
       (v) the Committee on Armed Services of the House of 
     Representatives; and
       (vi) the Subcommittee on Defense of the Committee on 
     Appropriations of the House of Representatives.
       (2) Commerce.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce shall submit 
     to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and

[[Page S3085]]

     Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Science, 
     Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives a 
     comprehensive report on the resources necessary for the 
     National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to continue 
     to support, through December 31, 2035--
       (A) the National Hurricane Operations Plan;
       (B) the National Winter Season Operations Plan; and
       (C) any other operational requirements relating to weather 
     reconnaissance.
                                 ______