Stop (In)Santorum from Privatizing the National Weather Service

[fearnobush]

In light of the Katrina response, one GOVT agency did perform quite well. That agency is, NOAA the National Oceans and Atmospheric Administration - a part of the Commerce Dept. The National Weather Service is under NOAA as is the Natl Hurricane Center.

Santorum loves to get financial blow jobs from Accuweather because the have persuaded him to put forth a bill to privatize weather data - all free at This bill could lead to the deaths of ten's of thousands more. Santorum is no Christian - he is a greedy little mercenary of the Devil.

"Do you want a seven-day weather forecast for your ZIP code? Or hour-by-hour predictions of the temperature, wind speed, humidity and chance of rain? Or weather data beamed to your cellphone?

That information is available for free from the National Weather Service But under a bill pending in the U.S. Senate, it might all disappear.

The bill, introduced last week by Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., would prohibit federal meteorologists from competing with companies such as AccuWeather and The Weather Channel, which offer their own forecasts through paid services and free ad-supported Web sites"
<http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/news/epaper/2005/04/21/m1a_wx_0421.html>

The private (Pirate) weather services ALL use data from NOAA for free because we the tax payer pay for it. Do you really want to pay twice for weather data? Or have to wait up to 24hrs for delayed hurricane updates or satellite images?

Contact your Senators to stop this bill from passing.
<http://commerce.senate.gov/about/membership.html>

For more info: See Dr. Jeff Masters, Ph.d. at:

<http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=18&tstamp=200506>

<>

[Mythsaje]

1. So he's going ahead with the debacle, is he?

These greedy bastards need to be stopped.

[fearnobush]

4. He said he needed to get this bill going on the Imus in the Morning

Show a week or two ago. I really hope this man gets struck by lightning.

[MH1]

7. So, what did Imus say?

Did Imus just give him a pass?

Just curious.

[fearnobush]

8. Yes the idiot make pretent he's a Dem did.

He is typical of the M$M pretending to be liberal with hosts that say their Dem while continously bashing us with BFEE talking points.

[eallen]

2. This is getting a lot of attention from a wide variety of groups....

Scientists, internet afficianados, sailors, kayakers, and many others are really steamed about this bill. Let's hope it not only fails, but helps take Santorum down with it.

:hippie:

[fearnobush]

12. Please Nominate, if Passed, post Katrina disasters will be the norm

Brownie's will rule the day.

[ClintonTyree]

3. The bill in it's entirety...........

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

THIS SEARCH THIS DOCUMENT GO TO
Next Hit Forward New Bills Search
Prev Hit Back HomePage
Hit List Best Sections Help
Contents Display

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GPO's PDF Display Congressional Record References Bill Summary & Status Printer Friendly Display - 6,826 bytes.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
National Weather Services Duties Act of 2005 (Introduced in Senate)

S 786 IS1S

(Star Print)


109th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. 786
To clarify the duties and responsibilities of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Weather Service, and for other purposes.


IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

April 14, 2005
Mr. SANTORUM introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


A BILL
To clarify the duties and responsibilities of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Weather Service, and for other purposes.


Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `National Weather Services Duties Act of 2005'.

SEC. 2. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION AND NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

(a) NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE- To protect life and property, the Secretary of Commerce shall, through the National Weather Service, be responsible for the following:

(1) The preparation and issuance of severe weather forecasts and warnings designed for the protection of life and property of the general public.

(2) The preparation and issuance of hydrometeorological guidance and core forecast information.

(3) The collection and exchange of meteorological, hydrological, climatic, and oceanographic data and information.

(4) The provision of reports, forecasts, warnings, and other advice to the Secretary of Transportation and other persons pursuant to section 44720 of title 49, United States Code.

(5) Such other duties and responsibilities as the Secretary shall specify.

(b) COMPETITION WITH PRIVATE SECTOR- The Secretary of Commerce shall not provide, or assist other entities in providing, a product or service (other than a product or service described in subsection (a)(1)) that is or could be provided by the private sector unless--

(1) the Secretary determines that the private sector is unwilling or unable to provide such product or service; or

(2) the United States Government is obligated to provide such product or service under international aviation agreements to provide meteorological services and exchange meteorological information.

(c) ISSUANCE OF DATA, FORECASTS, AND WARNINGS-

(1) IN GENERAL- All data, information, guidance, forecasts, and warnings received, collected, created, or prepared by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or the National Weather Service shall, to the maximum extent practicable, be issued in real time, and without delay for internal use, in a manner that ensures that all members of the public have the opportunity for simultaneous and equal access to such data, information, guidance, forecasts, and warnings.

(2) MODE OF ISSUANCE- Data, information, guidance, forecasts, and warnings shall be issued under paragraph (1) through a set of data portals designed for volume access by commercial providers of products or services and by such other mechanisms as the Secretary of Commerce considers appropriate for purposes of that paragraph.

(d) PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN DISCLOSURES- An officer, employee, or agent of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Weather Service, or any other department or agency of the United States who by reason of that status comes into possession of any weather data, information, guidance, forecast, or warning that might influence or affect the market value of any product, service, commodity, tradable, or business may not--

(1) willfully impart, whether directly or indirectly, such weather data, information, guidance, forecast, or warning, or any part thereof, before the issuance of such weather data, information, guidance, forecast, or warning to the public under subsection (c); or

(2) after the issuance of such weather data, information, guidance, forecast, or warning to the public under subsection (c), willfully impart comments or qualifications on such weather data, information, guidance, forecast, or warning, or any part thereof, to the public, except pursuant to an issuance that complies with that subsection.

(e) REGULATIONS- Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce shall prescribe regulations to implement the provisions of this section.

(f) PRODUCT OR SERVICE DEFINED- In this section, the term `product or service' means a product, service, device, or system that provides, senses, or communicates meteorological, hydrological, climatic, solar, or oceanographic data, forecasts, or other similar information.

(g) EFFECTIVE DATE- The provisions of this section (other than subsection (e)) shall take effect 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.

(h) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS- The Act of October 1, 1890 (26 Stat. 653) is amended as follows:

(1) Section 3 (15 U.S.C. 313) is repealed.

(2) Section 9 (15 U.S.C. 317) is amended by striking `, and it shall be' and all that follows and inserting a period.

SEC. 3. REPORT ON MODIFICATION OF NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION AND NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ACTIVITIES.

(a) REPORT- Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report that sets forth--

(1) a detailed statement of the activities, if any, of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Weather Service that are inconsistent with the provisions of section 2;

(2) a schedule for the modification of the activities referred to in paragraph (1) in order to conform such activities to the provisions of section 2; and

(3) the regulations prescribed under section 2(e).

(b) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS DEFINED- In this section, the term `appropriate committees of Congress' means--

(1) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate; and

(2) the Committee on Science of the House of Representatives.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

THIS SEARCH THIS DOCUMENT GO TO
Next Hit Forward New Bills Search
Prev Hit Back HomePage
Hit List Best Sections Help
Contents Display

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[fearnobush]

6. Thank you great FSM Noodley one.

May we all be touched by his noodley appendage.

[The Backlash Cometh]

5. kick

[ClintonTyree]

9. My letter to the committee.......

I urge each and every one of you on the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee to vote NO on Senator's Santorum's proposed bill to "privatize" weather forecasts. NOAA does a fine job and the proposed private weather forecasters USE NOAA data in making their forecasts. We would in affect be paying twice for the same data! This is nothing more than a giveaway to Senator Santorum's campaign contributors and would be a great disservice to the American public. With mid-term elections approaching it would be wise to treat the taxpayer's money with more respect. We're watching and will know who voted FOR and AGAINST this travesty of a bill. Those that vote FOR it can expect to be held accountable for their actions in the approaching mid-term elections. Thank you and remember, vote NO on S.786.

[fearnobush]

10. Letter to my Senator on the Committee, Frank Lautenberg

National Weather Services Duties Act of 2005 (Introduced in Senate)

S 786 IS1S

Hello Frank. I am writing to ask you to prevent our most life saving government agency from being privatized. That agency is NOAA the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration. Sen. Rick Santorum has a bill in the Senate to allow this to happen. I fear the bill will lead to hundreds of Katrina like events in terms of deaths caused by the limited access to weather data - all free and in real time today from NOAA. Under the bill, companies like Accuweather, who pay Mr. Santorum big bucks in campaign donations will get first dibs to NOAA's data, while we the tax payer will be required to pay twice for the data: Once in Fed taxes and twice in fee's payed to Accuweather services or at best in annoying pop up ads found at there sites. Worst of all, these companies will put there own spin on the data, creating un-warranted urgent needs or even down playing potentially deadly events - all in the name of ratings and revenue profits from Po pup ads and TV commercials. We the public will be shut out from accessing real time weather data that we pay for in our Fed taxes. Please stop this bill at all costs.

[ClintonTyree]

11. Contact information for the entire committee here..

http://commerce.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm

I don't think the southern Republicans will vote for this POS bill, not with their constituents' lives on the line. At least I hope they can see past this bullshit piece of legislation.

[OKNancy]

13. I heard a big mucky-muck on NPR

the other day say it doesn't have any chance of passing.

(We should still act, but that might make you feel a little better)

[Fovea]

14. Rick commits suicide

he might as well screw a hamster on the late show.

Wow, just when I think the Republican hubris cannot go any higher...

[bonito]

15. kick

[Patiod]

16. If it passes, that will be the best $5000 AccuWeather ever spent

I forget the exact amount, but I think that's all they gave Santorum for a campaign contribution.

Cheap at 100x the price!