Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016

Floor Speech

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Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 2 minutes.

Sadly, the funding in this bill for NOAA's climate research is shamefully inadequate and puts at risk efforts to mitigate and respond to the impacts of climate change. It cuts NOAA's climate research by $30 million relative to the current fiscal year's inadequate level and is $61 million below the President's request. I am offering an amendment to restore the funding to the President's level.

All across America, we are dealing with the impacts of climate change. Extreme weather events, whether it is the recent floods in Texas, or the persistent 4-year drought in California, are regular events. They claim lives and cost billions of dollars each year. Floods, droughts, superstorms, wildfires, heat waves, and sea level rise are all made worse as a result of climate change.

We are no longer talking just about preparing for the future. It is happening now. And the evidence is clear as we go from one extreme weather event to another that it is getting worse.

NOAA climate research funds atmospheric and oceanic research, cooperative institutes, universities, climate research laboratories, and others that will advance climate science and enable better decisionmaking and better policies to make our communities more resilient.

It makes no sense to defund programs to help us prepare for extreme weather events; mitigate the impacts of such events; prevent the loss of human life, infrastructure, and property; and better predict these occurrences.

Choosing to deny climate change does not stop it from happening, and failing to study and authorize these programs will not make the problem go away. In fact, it will only make us more vulnerable and hurt our ability to prepare for and respond to the impacts of climate change.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Chairman, I respect my friend from Texas. I appreciate his willingness to work with me and his notion of putting more resources in forecasting, but that is not the issue here.

What we need to be doing is having a robust effort at NOAA to be able to deal comprehensively with climate, being able to deal with how we help communities be more resilient, how we are able to deal with the forces that are down upon us to help the scientific bases to be able to maybe even encourage this Congress to step up and do its job.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. BLUMENAUER. It is our ability to provide reliable, long-term drought forecasts, projections of regional drought indicators, and issues dealing with the prediction of what happens in terms of flood research and performance of climate and weather models.

This is not simply a matter of predicting next week's weather. This is dealing with long-term consequences and helping communities deal with the impact of climate change and being able to understand it better.

Mr. Chairman, this is an entirely self-imposed constraint from my Republican friends. They have passed hundreds of billions of dollars of unfunded tax cuts out of committee. There is more than adequate money.

Because the budget is so hopelessly inadequate, I ask unanimous consent to withdraw my amendment.

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Mr. BLUMENAUER. I appreciate the gentlewoman's courtesy and her leadership on this, and I appreciate my good friend from Pennsylvania in his eloquence and his tireless championship in this area.

Mr. Chairman, the fact is that we have a broken system that does not meet the needs of people with mental illness, and it places an undue burden on law enforcement. His words about people having a right to be well really resonates with me because we have seen in all of our communities situations that escalate because they don't have the proper response--we don't have the proper training; we don't have the proper resources--where people get worse.

It is not just that it costs more money; it is the pain to the individuals, to their families, and, ultimately, since virtually all of these people are released but are released in a more damaged situation, they are worse. They are a greater risk to themselves and society, and the cycle continues.

There is no doubt in my mind that, if we were able to properly account for the costs and consequences of the current nonsystem that there would be far more resources saved in treating them humanely and effectively, giving the police and the community the resources they need that will more than pay for itself. This is an important step for the Federal Government to be a better partner.

I appreciate the gentlewoman's leadership. I appreciate my friend Mr. Murphy from Pennsylvania, and I am looking forward to working with him on other items.

I respectfully request that our colleagues not just support this, but take it to heart because we can make a difference on so many different levels.

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