John Farley
Supporter
I hope I am not in trouble for posting something political, but since this affects access to weather data, this message from WeatherUnderground seems appropriate for our list, so I am sharing:
PERMISSION TO CROSSPOST:
From WeatherUnderground.com - Dr. jeff Masters:
Senate vote Tuesday may significantly cut NOAA funding
I urge all of you who value the services provided by the National Weather Service and their parent organization, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), to contact your two Senators and ask them to vote against the Senator Hutchison (R-TX) Amendment #2666 to the Commerce State Justice Appropriations Act for 2010 H.R. 2847.
http://senate.gov/general/contact_infor ... e&Sort=ASC
This amendment will be voted on this Tuesday, October 13, by the Senate, and would cut the NOAA budget by $172 million. The funds would be diverted to the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, to increase its budget by 75%.
While I'm sure the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program is a worthy program to support, Congress should find a different way to fund this program. NOAA's total budget is about $4 billion, and the National Weather Service Budget is a little less than $1 billion.
The only place where NOAA has the flexibility to absorb the proposed cuts would be in the satellite program. With the QuickSCAT satellite likely to fail in the next few months, and the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) satellite also nearing its demise, the last thing we should be doing is cutting NOAA's budget in time when our capability to observe the weather from space is suffering from serious degradation.
Here's the language of the bill, and the proposed amendments:
SA 2666. Mrs. HUTCHISON (for herself, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. KYL, and Mr. MCCAIN) submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by her to the bill H.R. 2847, making appropriations for the Departments of Commerce and Justice, and Science, and Related Agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2010, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
On page 170, between lines 19 and 20, insert the following:
SEC. 220. INCREASE IN STATE CRIMINAL ALIEN ASSISTANCE PROGRAM FUNDING.
(a) In General.--For an additional amount under the heading ``STATE AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT ASSISTANCE'' under the heading ``Office of Justice Programs'' under this title, there is appropriated, for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2010, $172,000,000 for the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, as authorized by section 241(i)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1231(i)(5)).
(b) Offset.--The total amount appropriated under the heading ``OPERATIONS, RESEARCH, AND FACILITIES'' under the heading ``National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration'' under title I is reduced by $172,000,000.
The National Weather Service Employees Organization has put out a press release with more details.
FORECASTERS WARN OF CRIPPLING CUTS TO
WEATHER SERVICES IN TUESDAY'S SENATE VOTE
Washington DC (October 9, 2009) - The union that represents the meteorologists at the National Weather Service warns that their ability to
forecast the weather and warn of severe storms will be crippled if an amendment proposed by Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison is approved by the Senate next Tuesday, October 13, 2009......
".....National Weather Service forecast offices are now at bare bones staffing and the current generation of weather satellites are past their life cycle. We are at a critical failure point and lives will be lost if we have to cut back on any of our staffing or infrastructure," said Dan Sobien, a Lead Forecaster at the Tampa, Florida Forecast Office and President of the National Weather Service Employees Organization......"
".....The amendment will cut funding for the 122 National Weather Service Forecast Offices nationwide, the National Hurricane Center in Miami and the Severe Storms Prediction Center in Oklahoma, which issues warnings of severe thunderstorms and tornados. Due to current underfunding, there are only two forecasters on duty at most forecast offices - which may be responsible for issuing forecasts and severe weather warnings for one or more states - at any given time. The cuts will also set back the development and launch of the next generation of weather satellites, which is already three years overdue....."
"........"The proposed increase in alien law enforcement programs would benefit primarily a handful of border states, but it will come at a cost of protecting the lives of the people of not only those states, but of the entire country. The United States has more diverse and severe weather than any country in the world. Thousands of lives are saved each year as a result of tornado, thunderstorm, hurricane and flood warnings issued by the National Weather Service," said Sobien."
PERMISSION TO CROSSPOST:
From WeatherUnderground.com - Dr. jeff Masters:
Senate vote Tuesday may significantly cut NOAA funding
I urge all of you who value the services provided by the National Weather Service and their parent organization, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), to contact your two Senators and ask them to vote against the Senator Hutchison (R-TX) Amendment #2666 to the Commerce State Justice Appropriations Act for 2010 H.R. 2847.
http://senate.gov/general/contact_infor ... e&Sort=ASC
This amendment will be voted on this Tuesday, October 13, by the Senate, and would cut the NOAA budget by $172 million. The funds would be diverted to the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, to increase its budget by 75%.
While I'm sure the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program is a worthy program to support, Congress should find a different way to fund this program. NOAA's total budget is about $4 billion, and the National Weather Service Budget is a little less than $1 billion.
The only place where NOAA has the flexibility to absorb the proposed cuts would be in the satellite program. With the QuickSCAT satellite likely to fail in the next few months, and the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) satellite also nearing its demise, the last thing we should be doing is cutting NOAA's budget in time when our capability to observe the weather from space is suffering from serious degradation.
Here's the language of the bill, and the proposed amendments:
SA 2666. Mrs. HUTCHISON (for herself, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. KYL, and Mr. MCCAIN) submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by her to the bill H.R. 2847, making appropriations for the Departments of Commerce and Justice, and Science, and Related Agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2010, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
On page 170, between lines 19 and 20, insert the following:
SEC. 220. INCREASE IN STATE CRIMINAL ALIEN ASSISTANCE PROGRAM FUNDING.
(a) In General.--For an additional amount under the heading ``STATE AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT ASSISTANCE'' under the heading ``Office of Justice Programs'' under this title, there is appropriated, for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2010, $172,000,000 for the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, as authorized by section 241(i)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1231(i)(5)).
(b) Offset.--The total amount appropriated under the heading ``OPERATIONS, RESEARCH, AND FACILITIES'' under the heading ``National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration'' under title I is reduced by $172,000,000.
The National Weather Service Employees Organization has put out a press release with more details.
FORECASTERS WARN OF CRIPPLING CUTS TO
WEATHER SERVICES IN TUESDAY'S SENATE VOTE
Washington DC (October 9, 2009) - The union that represents the meteorologists at the National Weather Service warns that their ability to
forecast the weather and warn of severe storms will be crippled if an amendment proposed by Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison is approved by the Senate next Tuesday, October 13, 2009......
".....National Weather Service forecast offices are now at bare bones staffing and the current generation of weather satellites are past their life cycle. We are at a critical failure point and lives will be lost if we have to cut back on any of our staffing or infrastructure," said Dan Sobien, a Lead Forecaster at the Tampa, Florida Forecast Office and President of the National Weather Service Employees Organization......"
".....The amendment will cut funding for the 122 National Weather Service Forecast Offices nationwide, the National Hurricane Center in Miami and the Severe Storms Prediction Center in Oklahoma, which issues warnings of severe thunderstorms and tornados. Due to current underfunding, there are only two forecasters on duty at most forecast offices - which may be responsible for issuing forecasts and severe weather warnings for one or more states - at any given time. The cuts will also set back the development and launch of the next generation of weather satellites, which is already three years overdue....."
"........"The proposed increase in alien law enforcement programs would benefit primarily a handful of border states, but it will come at a cost of protecting the lives of the people of not only those states, but of the entire country. The United States has more diverse and severe weather than any country in the world. Thousands of lives are saved each year as a result of tornado, thunderstorm, hurricane and flood warnings issued by the National Weather Service," said Sobien."
But even if I was employed with the NOAA I would still feel the same. Look at some of the projections and studies on how much illegal immigration is costing. 10.5 billion currently, just for California to provide education and health services etc... to illegals. That's enough to more than triple funding to the NOAA. Federal and state governments are blowing all kinds of money on illegals, your money. 
