{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://bonamici.house.gov/media/press-releases/oregon-lawmakers-noaa-must-keep-its-fleet-newport", "Oregon Lawmakers: NOAA Must Keep Its Fleet in Newport", "2026-08-11", "2026", "2026-08", "Democrat", "House", "OR", "Suzanne Bonamici", "B001278", "bonamici.house.gov", "bonamici", "https://bonamici.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2013 Today, Oregon\u2019s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley led Oregon Congressional Delegation members\u2014including Senator Ron Wyden and U.S. Representatives Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Val Hoyle (OR-04), Andrea Salinas (OR-06), Maxine Dexter (OR-03), and Janelle Bynum (OR-05)\u2014to urge the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and General Services Administration (GSA) to renew the NOAA Marine Operations Center \u2013 Pacific (MOC-P)\u2019s fleet lease in Newport, Oregon.\n\n\u201cNewport is the ideal location for MOC-P. Situated on Yaquina Bay, Newport provides direct and quick access to the Pacific Ocean. Newport\u2019s location provides low operational costs for the MOC-P compared to more inland ports and ensures that the fleet sits in the middle of the West Coast \u2013 providing efficient access to Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and California. It is also home to Oregon State University\u2019s Hatfield Marine Science Center, which has facilitated a collaborative partnership between the agency and university,\u201d wrote the Oregon lawmakers to NOAA and GSA. \u201cFurther, Newport is committed to investment in the infrastructure needed to support MOC-P and its workers to ensure the community remains an affordable and accessible place for NOAA employees.\u201d\n\nSince NOAA selected Newport to house MOC-P in 2011, the operations center has provided critical administrative, maintenance, engineering, and logistical support for the agency, supporting training and ship operations too. The lawmakers also highlighted the Port of Newport\u2019s potential to house additional ships and the Port\u2019s role as a hub of maritime activity, both key factors for the continued success of the MOC-P and bolstering NOAA\u2019s maritime capacity along the West Coast.\n\nThey emphasized, \u201cRather than continuing to survey additional waterfront sites along the West Coast that meet the extensive requirements for rebasing this fleet, we encourage you to further capitalize on the initial investment and keep MOC-P in Newport. Keeping the fleet in Newport will be the most efficient, lowest cost option for maintaining NOAA\u2019s fleet directly on the Pacific Coast.\u201d", 1, "2026-08-12T06:18:38Z", "2026-08-12T06:20:33Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://bonamici.house.gov/media/press-releases/oregon-lawmakers-noaa-must-keep-its-fleet-newport"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.9471771083772182, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}