[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Pages 5115-5116]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




        WEATHER RESEARCH AND FORECASTING INNOVATION ACT OF 2017

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 353, which was received 
from the House.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 353) to improve the National Oceanic and 
     Atmospheric Administration's weather research through a 
     focused program of investment on affordable and attainable 
     advances in observational, computing, and modeling 
     capabilities to support substantial improvement in weather 
     forecasting and prediction of high impact weather events, to 
     expand commercial opportunities for the provision of weather 
     data, and for other purposes.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, for years, I have been working to make 
sure that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has 
reliable tools to forecast hurricanes. Today the Senate will come 
together on legislation to get us closer to that goal. In May 2016, 
just before the start of hurricane season, the Commerce Committee held 
a hearing on preparedness. At that hearing, I asked the then-Director 
of the National Hurricane Center, Dr. Rick Knabb, about the fact that 
NOAA has two P3 propeller aircraft that fly into the storm, but only 
the one Gulfstream jet that can fly high enough and long enough to get 
above the storm. Flying above the storm is critical because the 
scientists drop sondes out of the belly of the aircraft that fall 
through the storm sending measurements of the entire vertical profile. 
This is vital to telling us where the storm is headed and whether it is 
weakening or strengthening.
  Having only one Gulfstream is a single point of failure because, if 
the plane is out of commission, we do not

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have a backup ready to go. Unfortunately, my fears were realized a few 
short months later. During a Hurricane Hermine reconnaissance mission, 
NOAA had to ground the Gulfstream for emergency corrosion repairs. 
Luckily, a plane owned by the National Science Foundation and the 
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research was not on a mission at 
the time and was able to fill in for the NOAA Gulfstream, but you can 
imagine that this will not always be the case. While the hurricane 
season seems to be getting longer, the NOAA plane is getting older. We 
must have a reliable backup. So, in January, I filed S. 153, 
legislation to require NOAA to acquire sufficient backup capability for 
our hurricane hunter aircraft. I am pleased today that the Senate will 
unanimously pass this measure as part of a broader weather bill.
  I take comfort that even in times of great divisiveness, the Senate 
can come together on matters of public safety. The power of Mother 
Nature must be taken seriously. Consider the flooding in California or 
the devastating tornadoes that hit Louisiana, Georgia, and Florida 
early this year. In 2016, Hurricane Matthew took 46 lives in the United 
States alone. In addition to requiring backup capability for the 
hurricane hunters, the broader bill we will pass tonight, the Weather 
Research and Forecasting Innovation Act, will improve NOAA's ability to 
understand, predict, and--most importantly--to warn people about all 
kinds of weather events that dramatically affect the economy and 
people's daily lives. It also includes a reauthorization of the Tsunami 
Warning, Education, and Research Act. These provisions will give NOAA 
the tools to protect life and property and to support continued 
economic growth. It is my hope that the House follows suit.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Thune 
substitute amendment at the desk be considered; the Cantwell amendment 
at the desk be considered and agreed to; the Thune substitute 
amendment, as amended, be agreed to; the bill, as amended, be 
considered read a third time and passed; and the motion to reconsider 
be considered made and laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 204) in the nature of a substitute was considered.
  (The amendment is printed in today's Record under ``Text of 
Amendments.'')
  The amendment (No. 205) was agreed to.
  (The amendment is printed in today's Record under ``Text of 
Amendments.'')
  The amendment (No. 204), as amended, was agreed to.
  The amendment was ordered to be engrossed and the bill to be read a 
third time.
  The bill was read the third time.
  The bill (H.R. 353), as amended, was passed.

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