Weather Forecasting Improvement Act of 2014

Floor Speech

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Mr. BRIDENSTINE. Mr. Speaker, on May 20 of last year, a massive tornado struck Moore, Oklahoma, with very little warning. The Moore tornado killed 24 Oklahomans, injured 377, and resulted in an estimated $2 billion worth of damage. A warning was issued only 15 minutes before the tornado touched down, just 15 minutes. In fact, 15 minutes is the standard in America. Mr. Speaker, America can do better than 15 minutes.

The Weather Forecasting Improvement Act is the first step toward restoring America's leadership in weather and weather forecasting and prediction. I would like to thank Chairman Lamar Smith and the Science Committee staff for their very hard work.

H.R. 2413, the Weather Forecasting Improvement Act, is critical legislation that will save lives and protect property and critical infrastructure.

I would also like to thank the former Environment Subcommittee chairman, Chris Stewart, now a member of the Appropriations Committee, and my friend and colleague from Oregon, Representative Suzanne Bonamici, for making this truly a very bipartisan effort.

Mr. Speaker, this bill is about priorities. When America is over $17 trillion in debt, the answer is not more spending, but to prioritize necessary spending toward its best uses. Saving lives and protecting property should be the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's top priority. This bill codifies that priority.

H.R. 2413 directs NOAA to prioritize weather-related activities and rebalances NOAA's funding priorities to bring weather-related activities to a higher amount. The bill completes this reprioritization in a fiscally responsible manner. H.R. 2413 does not increase NOAA's overall authorization. I would like to repeat that. H.R. 2413 does not increase NOAA's overall authorization. It doesn't spend one more dime.

Mr. Speaker, this bill helps get weather research projects out of the lab and into the field, thereby speeding up the development and fielding of lifesaving weather forecasting technology.

By requiring coordination and prioritization across the range of NOAA agencies, H.R. 2413 will help get weather prediction and forecasting technologies off the drawing board and into the field.

This bill authorizes dedicated tornado and hurricane warning programs to coordinate research and development activities. It directs the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research to prioritize its research and development. And it codifies technology transfer between OAR--the researchers--and the National Weather Service--the operators--a vital link that ensures next-generation weather technologies are implemented.

Mr. Speaker, perhaps most importantly, H.R. 2413 enhances NOAA's collaboration with the private sector and with universities. Oklahoma is on the cutting edge of weather research, prediction, and forecasting with absolutely world-class institutions such as the National Weather Center and the National Severe Storms Laboratory at the University of Oklahoma.

And I would like to anchor here, just to brag for a second, about what is happening at the University of Oklahoma. As a Navy pilot, I have seen firsthand phased array radar technology being used to detect, track, and target enemy aircraft many, many miles away. What this technology is now being used for at the University of Oklahoma is to detect and track clouds and very small particles in clouds. Those particles can provide reflected radar energy that goes into a data assimilation system, into a numerical weather model, and we can now predict tornadoes over an hour in advance, which is a goal of this piece of legislation.

Saving lives and property requires us to be able to warn people based on the forecast of a tornado, not just based on the detection of a tornado, moving from 15 minutes to over an hour in advance to detect tornadoes. Not only is this possible, it has been done. And they are doing it currently at the University of Oklahoma.

Mr. Speaker, this bill also clarifies that NOAA can purchase weather data through contracts with commercial providers and place weather satellite instruments on private payloads. Leveraging the private sector will lead to lower costs for better weather data; again, saving lives and property.

Mr. Speaker, the imbalance of NOAA's resources is leaving America further behind our international competitors. The Science Committee received compelling testimony showing that the European Union has better capabilities in some areas of numerical weather prediction, forecasting, and risk communication, and other countries, such as Britain and Japan, are closing in fast.

Misallocating resources can have terrible consequences, as my constituents and the people of Oklahoma understand all too well every tornado season.

The Weather Forecasting Improvement Act is a first step toward rebalancing NOAA's priorities, moving new technologies from the lab bench to the field, and leveraging formidable capabilities developed in the private sector and at universities. I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan bill.

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