Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record two documents. The first document is the dissenting views that Republicans filed on this bill in the committee. The second is the summary of problems that the Department of Commerce Inspector General, the GAO and the NOAA itself have found with the corps, which included a conclusion that the corps does not meet the criteria for military benefits; converting officers to civilians would result in a net savings; that a NOAA Corps officer using a government computer onboard a NOAA ship was accessing child pornography; purposeful violations of the Clean Water Act by NOAA Corps-operated vessels; and a very damning observation that ``insufficient oversight and circumvention of statutory requirements as institutionalized organizational behavior and culture'' within this NOAA Corps. Dissenting Views H.R. 2406 No doubt the members of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Corps of Commissioned Officers (NOAA Corps) are hardworking men and women who are honorably serving our Nation, especially those who pilot into the turbulent hearts of hurricanes. However, there is no justification that this small, underutilized uniformed service should continue to exist, much less be greatly expanded with unprecedented benefits under this legislation. We are not the only ones who agree with this assessment.…”