Full Committee Markup

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Act

Opening Statement By Hon. Bart Gordon

Mr. Chairman, I believe it was about one year ago that we marked up and reported this bill under the number H.R. 50.

Since that time, several situations relating to NOAA have come to our attention.  Thus, several of my Members have amendments to further improve this bill.

I believe it is important to get this legislation right.  The Organic Act for the Agency must include the tools the Agency needs today and into the future to allow this agency to grow and change as needed to serve our resource needs as our nation grows and changes.

NOAA is currently experiencing serious problems with the procurement of its new polar satellite series.  The long-term implications of the cost overrun and schedule delay in this program are likely to impact all other NOAA programs for years to come.

Rep. Udall has an amendment to offer that will address this problem for future procurements as we continue to work together to find a solution for the current NPOESS program.

As in the case of H.R. 50, this bill does not include important authorities and functions in fisheries, coastal zone management, ocean mapping and charting, and a number of other important operations that are in the jurisdiction of the Committee on Resources.  Until our colleagues complete their work, we will not have a true Organic Act for NOAA.

I understand you will not be supporting all of our amendments today.  I regret that - especially in the case of the amendment to be offered by Rep. Miller which would ensure that open scientific dialog and debate is standard operating procedure at NOAA.  I look forward to a constructive debate on this amendment as we proceed this morning.

We thank you for this second opportunity to further improve this legislation.  We look forward to working with you and our colleagues on the Committee on Resources as this bill continues through the legislative process.

Download the opening statement text.

Adopted by voice vote

Mr. Costello Amendment text	To establish an annual reporting requirement to list all contract and subcontract work that is done overseas and to list all purchases for which the Buy America Act had to be waived.  Similar language is in the NASA authorization the Committee passed last year (Pub L. 109-155)
Mr. Udall Amendment text	To establish a reporting requirement for all large procurement programs (>$250 million) at NOAA, similar to a Nunn-McCurdy process.  The purpose is to avoid the type of cost and schedule overruns that have occurred in the polar-orbiting satellite program.  The language of this amendment is nearly identical to that which was enacted in the NASA Authorization Act
Ms. Jackson Lee Amendment text	To ensure that the National Weather Service communicates with all Federal agencies that have responsibilities for emergency management as appropriate

Miller Amendment: Defeated 13-17

Click image to begin playback of debate video Mr. Miller Amendment text

To safeguard the integrity of science at NOAA by establishing whistleblower protections for NOAA employees that report instances of tampering or censorship of scientific information; adopting additional safeguards for advisory committees to deal with potential conflicts of interest of committee members; and ensuring greater transparency of advisory committee deliberations and work products. This amendment incorporates most of the components of the Waxman-Gordon Science Integrity bill (H.R. 839) and applies these provisions to NOAA only

Costello Amendment: Defeated 15-19

Click image to begin playback of debate video Mr. Costello Amendment text

To require all reports that Congress requests from NOAA be provided directly to Congress without review, editing, or censorship by the Office of Management and Budget or by other Federal agencies