Cruz, Cantwell Plan to Refile NOAA Weather Radio Modernization Act
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said Wednesday that he and ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., “will soon introduce together legislation to modernize NOAA Weather Radio warning systems.” Lobbyists told us the measure is likely to be identical to the NOAA Weather Radio Modernization Act filed by Cruz and then-Chair Cantwell during the last Congress. That bill, which the Senate approved by unanimous consent in 2023, would have required NOAA to upgrade infrastructure to improve reliable transmission of emergency alerts and reduce the system’s use of copper wire transmissions (see 2312190081). It also would have required increasing NOAA Weather Radio coverage to 98-99% of the U.S. population, including more rural areas.
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The forthcoming bill will “ensure that every American, especially those in areas with poor cell service, [isn't] left in the dark when it matters the most,” Cruz said. He invoked the “critical role” of NOAA and the National Weather Service in issuing emergency alerts, including overnight tsunami warnings and advisories in Alaska, Hawaii and the West Coast of the U.S. after Tuesday's 8.8-magnitude earthquake off Russia’s far eastern coast. Cruz also cited the deadly Texas floods over the Fourth of July weekend (see 2507090047), which “was a sobering reminder of man's fragility in the face of Mother Nature and of the need to prepare for the next storm.”
Cruz said he believes that NOAA administrator nominee Neil Jacobs and Taylor Jordan, President Donald Trump’s nominee for assistant commerce secretary for environmental observation and prediction, “will improve our systems to better respond to” disasters like the Texas floods. “My hope is that they'll have more resources at their disposal.” Senate Commerce advanced Jacobs on a voice vote, although seven Democrats asked the panel to record them as no votes. The committee voted 15-13, along party lines, on Jordan.