House Committee on Science

***MEDIA ADVISORY ***
PROPOSED NOAA ORGANIC ACTS TO BE TOPIC OF SUBCOMMITTEE HEARING

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Subcommittee on Environment, Technology and Standards will hold a hearing tomorrow examining two proposed organic acts for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that would define the agency’s mission and functions. Witnesses will testify on Subcommittee Chairman Vernon Ehlers’ (R-MI) bill, H.R.4546, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Act, as well as on the Administration’s proposal, H.R. 4607, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Organic Act of 2004.

In its Preliminary Report released in April 2004, the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy strongly recommended that Congress pass an organic act for NOAA, which was established in the Department of Commerce by Executive Order in 1970 under President Richard Nixon. The 1970 Executive Order primarily consolidated the ocean and atmospheric activities of various federal agencies under NOAA. The order did not lay out an overarching mission for the agency and since that time Congress has not passed a comprehensive act outlining the mission and specific functions of the agency.

Thursday, July 15, 2004
Subcommittee on Environment, Technology, and Standards – Hearing

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Organic Acts
2:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M.
2318 Rayburn House Office Building (WEBCAST)

The Honorable Theodore Kassinger, Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Commerce will present the Administration’s views on H.R.4546 and H.R.4607.
Dr. James Baker, President and Chief Executive Officer, The Academy of Natural Sciences was Administrator of NOAA from 1993-2001 and will discuss his views about the overall mission and functions of the agency.
Rear Admiral Richard West (Ret.), President of the Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education was a member of the subcommittee of NOAA’s Science Advisory Board that recently reviewed NOAA’s research enterprise. He will provide a brief summary of that review and the comments of the ocean research community in general on H.R.4546 and H.R.4607.
Dr. Elbert (Joe) W. Friday Jr., WeatherNews Chair of Applied Meteorology and Director of the Sasaki Applied Meteorology Research Institute, University of Oklahoma is a former Assistant Administrator of the National Weather Service and the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research at NOAA. He is also a past-president of the American Meteorological Society and he will discuss the weather and climate programs at NOAA.
Mr. Richard Hirn, General Counsel, National Weather Service Employees Organization (NWSEO). The NWSEO represents employees from many of NOAA’s line offices. Mr. Hirn will present the employees’ perspective on H.R.4546 and H.R.4607.