Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017

Floor Speech

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Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas, Chairman Smith, for yielding me time to highlight my support for H.R. 353, the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017.

This past weekend, deadly storms ravaged Louisiana's Third District, my district, tragically taking the lives of Francine Gotch and her 3- year-old daughter, Nevaeh Alexander, when their singlewide trailer flipped during high winds produced by a tornado.

The United States was once at the forefront of weather forecasting; however, that ability has diminished over the years with the capabilities of some other countries now paralleling or even exceeding our own.
I do not know if a better weather forecasting service would have made a difference this past weekend. However, as elected officials, we must make it a priority to protect American lives and property to the fullest extent.

We must never waver in this most significant responsibility. This legislation will put America back on track to lead the world in accurately predicting severe weather events with a renewed focus on increasing weather research and placing new technologies into operation.

More specifically, this bill also creates a tornado forecasting improvement program to develop more accurate, effective, and timely tornado forecasts that will allow for increased tornado warning lead times, which is crucial to saving lives and would perhaps have saved the lives of that mother and her young daughter this past weekend.

Mr. Speaker, with the number of hurricanes, floods, and tornadoes that have hit Louisiana in the last few decades, my constituency knows all too well the danger that mother nature can pose, as well as the need for reliable information to adequately prepare for such occurrences.

Constituents in my district need good, commonsense legislation like this to protect their families and their property. I applaud the efforts of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee Chairman Smith and Representative Lucas for leading this effort to protect Americans from severe weather.

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