Ranking Member Lofgren Opening Statement at Markup for NOAA Weather Radio Modernization
Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren's (D-CA) opening statement as prepared for the record is below:
Thank you, Chairman Babin. Today, we are considering the NOAA Weather Radio Modernization Act.
I am excited to consider this bill today because the NOAA weather radio is a valued service used by many Americans across the country. Countless lives and immeasurable property have been saved by the timely and accurate reporting provided by NOAA weather radio. Now we will modernize it and make it even more remarkable and accessible. This bill is a long time in the making and will help the public prepare for all sorts of inclement weather as well as floods and other serious natural hazards.
Just on Monday, here in Washington, we had numerous storm systems that brought dangerous weather to the area. During these types of storms, NOAA weather radio provides life saving warnings to alert people when to take shelter.
This is something that is critical for all areas of our country. In my own district, just a few years ago we had widespread flooding from “atmospheric rivers” that dumped huge amounts of rain in California. This led to the failure of a local levee, which caused devastating flooding to the community of Pajaro.
Last year, flash floods in Texas led to the Central Texas Flood Tragedy where at least 135 people were lost - many of them children. I want to continue to extend my deepest sympathies to the families and friends of the victims of that horrible tragedy. I hope that what we accomplish today may prevent a similar event from ever happening again.
While I support this bipartisan bill, I would be remiss if I did not bring up that this bill is Republican led, much like the Weather Act Reauthorization and the NASA reauthorization, making this the third markup in a row without any Democratic Member-led bills. In fact, the last time we marked up Democratic Member-led bill was last June. I sincerely hope that before we hold another markup in the Science Committee, we can work together to identify some bipartisan Democratic Member-led bills to add to the agenda.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
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