Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Reauthorization Act of 2023

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 6093.

Sadly, this year is expected to set yet another record for global temperatures according to the World Meteorological Organization.

Last year, the U.S. experienced 28 separate extreme weather and climate disasters costing more than $1 billion each, surpassing the previous record set in 2020.

Climate change is causing an increase in the frequency and intensity of severe storms. Just 2 weeks ago, Pittsburgh was inundated by a severe storm that flooded many parts of the area. Daily rainfall records for the Pittsburgh area were shattered, and there were numerous road closures and water rescues across Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, which I represent.

The science is clear. The need to act cannot be ignored. As we adapt to this unfortunate new norm of severe weather events, our forecasting capabilities and preparedness must substantially improve.

H.R. 6093 will build upon the bipartisan 2017 Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act that led to critical research and advancements in weather and climate forecasting. This bill before us today will support the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in continuing to improve research, development, dissemination, and communication of environmental forecasts, warnings, and information. We must ensure that NOAA has access to every tool to improve the accuracy and timeliness of weather and climate information to effectively meet its mission in protecting people, property, and the economy.

Specifically, this bill modifies and extends key weather and climate research programs for hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, drought, and harmful algal blooms. It also establishes and codifies new forecasting improvement programs for precipitation, atmospheric rivers, and coastal flooding, including storm surges. Additionally, the bill authorizes NOAA to expand its partnership with private industry in gathering more data while solidifying its own role as the driver of the enterprise and leverages the use of artificial intelligence to meet its mission.

Necessary improvements in data assimilation will be made so that our weather models continue to be the gold standard. While the improvement of all severe weather-related research programs is necessary, the communication of the information is also a key element to an effective forecast.

Under-observed, underserved, and highly vulnerable communities are disproportionately affected by severe weather and climate events. To better serve these communities, we must determine how to best communicate important weather and climate information. Understanding how the public receives, interprets, responds to, and values severe weather information is necessary to produce better forecasts and warnings. This bill aims to accomplish this by expanding NOAA's social, behavioral, and economic science research program to simplify and improve the communication of hazardous weather.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Lucas and Ranking Member Lofgren for their diligent work and cooperation on this important legislation, and also many of my colleagues who made significant contributions to this excellent piece of legislation. I strongly support this sensible, bipartisan bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.
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Ms. LEE of Pennsylvania. DelBene).

Mr. JACKSON of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, the week after I was elected to Congress, a group of meteorologists from my district got in touch with me, and they taught me something I didn't know, which is that my district, which is the Charlotte area, is in the largest weather radar gap in the country.

Our nearest NEXRAD radar is roughly 100 miles away, which makes it very difficult to have accurate forecasts for especially low-altitude storms and fast-moving tornadoes, so at the request of these meteorologists, our office got to work on a piece of legislation to address this. I am very grateful that it has been included in this bill. It would address this by asking NOAA to have a plan to implement the next generation of weather radar and specifically to prioritize districts, like mine, that currently exist in these blind spots, in these weather radar gaps.

This legislation isn't going to just help solve this problem, but it is going to identify a number of these spots across the country and prioritize those to make sure that we have accurate forecasts across the country.

I am very grateful for its inclusion, and I ask all of my colleagues to join me in supporting it.

Mr. Speaker, I want to recognize the Democratic staff who were the driving force behind this bill: Kristi Parrott, Noah Hunt, and Dahlia Sokolov. I thank them for their work on this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 6093, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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