Lamar Smith: “First of all, I thank the gentleman from Oklahoma and the vice chairman of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee…”

“First of all, I thank the gentleman from Oklahoma and the vice chairman of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee for yielding, and I thank both him and Mr. Bridenstine, another gentleman from Oklahoma and a member of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee, for taking the initiative and introducing this legislation. H.R. 353, Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017, will transform our Nation's weather-gathering efforts and help save lives and property. Severe weather routinely affects large portions of the United States. Nearly every year, we witness the devastating effects of tornadoes across our country. The deaths and the damage from these events underscore the need for a world-class weather prediction system. H.R. 353 improves weather observation systems by the use of observing system simulation experiments and next generation computing and modeling capabilities. This bill strengthens the underlying atmospheric science, while advancing innovative technology and reforming operations to provide better weather data, models, and forecasts. It prompts NOAA to actively employ new commercial data and solutions through a multiyear commercial weather data pilot program. Further, it directs NOAA to consider commercial data options rather than rely on slow, costly, and continually delayed government-owned satellites. For far too long, our government has relied on these massive, multibillion-dollar government satellites.…”