[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 12579-12581]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 2486, INLAND FLOOD FORECASTING AND 
                       WARNING SYSTEM ACT OF 2002

  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, 
I call up House Resolution 473 and ask for its immediate consideration.
  The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:

                              H. Res. 473

       Resolved, That at any time after the adoption of this 
     resolution the Speaker may, pursuant to clause 2(b) of rule 
     XVIII, declare the House resolved into the Committee of the 
     Whole House on the state of the Union for consideration of 
     the bill (H.R. 2486) to authorize the National Weather 
     Service to conduct research and development, training, and 
     outreach activities relating to tropical cyclone inland 
     forecasting improvement, and for other purposes. The first 
     reading of the bill shall be dispensed with. General debate 
     shall be confined to the bill and shall not exceed one hour 
     equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking 
     minority member of the Committee on Science. After general 
     debate the bill shall be considered for amendment under the 
     five-minute rule. It shall be in order to consider as an 
     original bill for the purpose of amendment under the five-
     minute rule the amendment in the nature of a substitute 
     recommended by the Committee on Science now printed in the 
     bill. Each section of the committee amendment in the nature 
     of a substitute shall be considered as read. During 
     consideration of the bill for amendment, the Chairman of the 
     Committee of the Whole may accord priority

[[Page 12580]]

     in recognition on the basis of whether the Member offering an 
     amendment has caused it to be printed in the portion of the 
     Congressional Record designated for that purpose in clause 8 
     of rule XVIII. Amendments so printed shall be considered as 
     read. At the conclusion of consideration of the bill for 
     amendment the Committee shall rise and report the bill to the 
     House with such amendments as may have been adopted. Any 
     Member may demand a separate vote in the House on any 
     amendment adopted in the Committee of the Whole to the bill 
     or to the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute. 
     The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the 
     bill and amendments thereto to final passage without 
     intervening motion except one motion to recommit with or 
     without instructions.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Quinn). The gentleman from Florida (Mr. 
Diaz-Balart) is recognized for 1 hour.
  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield 
the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. 
McGovern), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. 
During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the 
purpose of debate only.
  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 473 is an open rule 
providing for the consideration of H.R. 2486, the Inland Flood 
Forecasting and Warning System Act of 2002. The rule provides 1 hour of 
general debate evenly divided and controlled by the chairman and 
ranking minority member of the Committee on Science.
  This is a fair and balanced rule that will afford Members every 
opportunity to debate the important issue before us.
  The underlying legislation will help to improve the capability to 
forecast accurately inland flooding associated with tropical cyclones. 
Florida knows the fury of hurricanes all too well, but the damage goes 
much deeper than that which occurs on our battered coasts.
  As storms move inland, they begin to slow and often come to a stop 
over a particular area. The residents of my district in western Miami-
Dade County have seen firsthand the damage that inland flooding can 
cause. Hurricanes and other tropical disturbances cause homes to flood 
and streets to become impassable. The danger associated with this type 
of flooding is a major issue that many Americans are simply not aware 
of.
  This legislation instructs the National Weather Service to develop, 
test, and deploy an inland flood warning system for use by public and 
emergency management officials. With passage of the legislation, we 
will also provide increased training to improve forecasting and risk-
management techniques for inland flooding.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a good bill. It will help protect Americans 
across the Nation. I urge, accordingly, my colleagues to support this 
open rule and the underlying legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Diaz-Balart) for 
yielding me the customary 30 minutes. This is a fair and open rule for 
a noncontroversial bill. H.R. 2486 will direct the National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration, through the U.S. Weather Research Program, 
to improve the ability to accurately forecast inland flooding. 
Additionally, this bill will direct NOAA to develop, test, and install 
a new flood warning index so that weather service personnel and local 
meteorologists will be able to explain the dangers of weather 
emergencies to the public.
  Currently, the National Weather Service does not have the ability to 
accurately forecast coastal inland flooding caused by either tropical 
cyclones or excessive heavy rains. This legislation gives the National 
Weather Service the technology to better forecast these natural 
disasters.
  Simply put, the information that will be provided by the National 
Weather Service to the American public is a vital step towards limiting 
fatalities and property damage.
  As many remember, Hurricane Floyd killed 48 people and caused almost 
$3 billion in property damage to inland locations in 1999. One year 
later, Tropical Storm Allison left areas of Texas with over 35 inches 
of rain, and then continued its course through the southwest, 
ultimately leading to the deaths of more than 50 people.
  Over the past week, eight people have died and two more are missing 
as a result of over 30 inches of rain in Texas. According to the Red 
Cross, at least 48,000 houses have been affected by this rainfall and 
flash flooding.

                              {time}  1045

  The Governor of Texas estimates this damage will cost over $1 
billion. These examples of fatalities and property damage were a direct 
result of inland flooding.
  The New England region also suffers from severe storms that result in 
devastating inland flooding. In 2000, a Nor'easter hit the coast of 
Massachusetts, and FEMA and other Federal agencies are still working 
with families and businesses in central Massachusetts on recovery 
programs. Based on information gathered as a result of this 
legislation, families and communities will be better able to plan for 
these storms. Hopefully this will lead to saving lives and property 
across the country.
  Mr. Speaker, this bill was unanimously referred to the House by the 
Committee on Science. It authorizes approximately $1 million annually 
for FY 2003 through FY 2007. Of that, $250,000 can be used for merit 
review grants to colleges and universities like the Worcester 
Polytechnic Institute and the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, 
which are in my congressional district, for improving coastal and 
inland flooding forecasting.
  In order to avoid a recurrence of the devastating results of previous 
inland flooding, NOAA needs this funding to develop research that will 
help solve these problems. The bill before us today is an important 
step in that direction.
  Mr. Speaker, I commend the members of the Committee on Science for 
their bipartisan work on this bill. I especially want to thank my 
colleague, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Etheridge), for his 
leadership on this issue. I ask Members to support this open rule and 
to support the Inland Flood Forecasting and Warning System Act. I hope 
this Congress will not just authorize these important programs, but 
make sure the funds are made available to carry them out.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from 
Michigan (Mr. Ehlers), the distinguished chairman of the Subcommittee 
on Environment, Technology, and Standards of the Committee on Science.
  Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time.
  Mr. Speaker, most Americans do not understand the power of floods 
until they encounter them. Floods cause an immense amount of damage to 
this Nation and also cause an average of approximately 100 deaths per 
year throughout America. Most Americans are not aware of how dangerous 
they are and do not realize that we lose almost as many people to 
floods as we do to tornadoes within this country.
  Flooding affects every Congressional District in this country. The 
force of only 6 inches of swiftly moving water can easily knock people 
off their feet and carry them away into a nearby stream. The force of 2 
feet of moving water can sweep cars away.
  I am sure all of us have seen night after night on the evening news 
pictures of cars being trapped in water and we say, how could that 
happen? How could these people not know the danger? But it fools us. We 
think it is a small amount of water, but there is so much force that it 
can easily stall a car or sweep it away and carry it down the river.
  The public needs more useful information about flooding, about the 
nature of floods, the damage from floods, and, most importantly, they 
need more and better information about when floods are likely to occur.
  The bill that is before us, H.R. 2486, the Inland Flood Forecasting 
and

[[Page 12581]]

Warning System Act, which came out of our subcommittee, provides that 
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, better known as 
NOAA, will have a $6 million authorization for a 5-year period to, 
first of all, develop a new flood warning index that will give the 
public, the media, and emergency management officials more useful 
information about the risks and dangers posed by expected floods.
  We have done very well in this country in terms of tornado warnings, 
we have done very well in terms of hurricane warnings, and we have 
saved not just hundreds, but thousands, of lives over the past few 
decades with these new warning systems that have been in place. But we 
have ignored the need to warn people about floods; and not just about 
the general nature of a flood, but we have to outline roughly the 
boundaries of the expected flood so people know when to evacuate before 
the water hits them. So this bill will help develop the new flood 
warning index that will be understandable by the public, can be easily 
broadcast by the media, so that we can give warnings out so people will 
know precisely what to do before the flood hits.
  The second aspect of the bill is that it will conduct research and 
develop, new flooding models, to improve the capability to more 
accurately forecast inland flooding due to tropical storms. Most people 
are not aware of the fact that deaths from hurricanes are not from 
these strong winds that come in from offshore. Most of the deaths are 
due to floods which occur when the hurricane moves inland and drops 
huge amounts of rain with resulting flood waters occurring.
  It is an excellent bill. I was very pleased to work with the 
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Etheridge) on this bill. We have 
perfected it in every way possible. It will serve the people of our 
Nation well. I urge that we pass this rule and then pass the bill.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Brady).
  Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the leadership of the 
Committee on Rules and appreciate the leadership of the subcommittee 
chairman, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Ehlers), on this issue.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to express my strong support for the Inland 
Flood Forecasting and Warning System Act and urge all Members to vote 
for this important, truly lifesaving, measure.
  Mr. Speaker, when flood water starts to pour through your front door, 
it does not care if you are a Republican or Democrat, and for this 
reason I am pleased to be an original cosponsor in working on this 
common-sense bill with my colleague, the gentleman from North Carolina 
(Mr. Etheridge), and fellow Texan, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hall).
  When it comes to hurricanes and tropical storms, the gulf coast of 
Texas where I am from is pretty experienced. The hurricane season is 
something we prepare for, we monitor daily and we have grown to live 
with.
  However, we were hit especially hard by Tropical Storm Allison, and 
it was extremely difficult to see lives lost and people left homeless 
in its aftermath. Tropical Storm Allison was the costliest tropical 
storm in U.S. history, both in terms of life and in property damage. 
That means homes, things people have worked their lives for. More than 
50 people died. The storm caused more than $5 billion in damage 
throughout the Southeast United States, but especially in our Houston 
area, where 35 inches of rain fell in just a few days.
  The amount of flooding and the unprecedented damage caused by Allison 
surprised even the most experienced among us. It has caused our 
communities to wonder whether we are doing all we can to prepare for 
and prevent this level of damage in the future.
  This legislation is a big step forward in the right direction. It 
would help prepare residents for future natural events like Allison by 
finding ways to improve the weather system modeling and early 
forecasting. It would allow NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration, to develop an inland early warning index so we would 
understand how severe these storms could be, and then to train our 
emergency management personnel in improving these methods.
  Here is the key point: Research that leads to earlier, more accurate 
forecasting is a sound investment, an awfully sound investment. So is 
finding new ways to alert communities to inland flooding. Flooding 
affects all of us in the United States, as the gentleman from Michigan 
(Chairman Ehlers) told us.
  In conclusion, I will tell you, no one can control the weather, but 
we can certainly control our preparation for it. This bill will help 
provide inland residents with the warning system that raises the 
awareness of the destructiveness of such storms so we can protect 
ourselves, our families and our property, as well as ultimately 
lowering tax costs to the United States taxpayers.
  I urge all of my colleagues to support this very important bill.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I will just simply close by reminding my colleagues that 
this is a fair and open rule for a good bill, and I would urge my 
colleagues to support the rule and support the bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I also would urge all of my colleagues to support the 
rule as well as the underlying legislation, for which the debate will 
now begin shortly.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, I yield back the 
balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.
  The previous question was ordered.
  The resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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