{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://brooks.house.gov/media-center/news-releases/brooks-calls-appropriators-support-critical-weather-program", "Brooks Calls on Appropriators to Support Critical Weather Program", "2015-11-20", "2015", "2015-11", "Republican", "House", "AL", "Mo Brooks", "B001274", "brooks.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, D.C.Congressman Mo Brooks (AL-05) led a bipartisan letter to the House Appropriations Committee, urging them to support sufficient funding in FY16 for the Polar Follow On (PFO) program. The PFO program helps make certain America gets the weather prediction satellites it needs on a timely basis. A critical component of our nation's ability to accurately predict potentially devastating weather systems that affect the Gulf Coast region, such as hurricanes and large weather systems that can possibly lead to tornados and floods, may not be available in the future if funding for FY16 is not secured.\nIn a letter to House colleagues, Congressman Brooks stated, Polar-orbiting satellites provide 94 percent of the data used in global weather forecast models, which are critical to accurate weather forecasting. Data collected from the sensors and instruments on polar-orbiting satellites are used to produce weather forecasts and prediction models that help us to get people out of harm's way before a disaster hits, as well as help us accurately locate the areas hardest hit so that disaster relief efforts can be directed to those in greatest need.\nBrooks continued, Funding for PFO is needed in FY16 to ensure the timely construction of these weather forecasting satellites that are critical to our ability to better prepare for potentially devastating weather events that are all too common in the Gulf Coast region. Without funding for PFO in FY16, these polar orbiting satellites may be delayed and the risk of a future gap in polar coverage may result. We cannot afford to let any gap occur which will force us to rely on older technologies that cannot provide us with the data that is most able to deliver accurate predictions of potentially disastrous weather events. The lives and property of our constituents are too important for us to let this happen.\nText of the letter to the House Appropriations Committee follows:\nDear Chairman Culberson and Ranking Member Honda,\nAs fellow Representatives from Gulf Coast states, we want to thank you for supporting the Fiscal Year 2016 President's budget request for the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS). This funding is needed to ensure a more accurate weather forecasting system that is critical to our ability to better prepare for potentially devastating weather events that are all too common in the Gulf Coast region.\nWe are also writing to you to solicit your support for FY16 funding of the essential Polar Follow On (PFO) portion of the JPSS program. The FY16 President's budget request for PFO was $380 million, and the Senate Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) Appropriations Subcommittee passed their version of the FY16 CJS Appropriations bill with funding set at $135 million. However, your mark contained no funding for PFO in FY16, and we are deeply concerned that this will result in the assumption of serious capability and cost risk to the JPSS mission.\nThere are no satellites funded in the JPSS constellation following JPSS 2, and manufacturing needs to commence now to address this important concern. Funding for PFO in FY16 will result in the lowest possible cost as it will allow for the start of a cost-effective instrument block buy and the continuity of critical engineering and production teams. In addition, funding in FY16 is indispensable to eliminating the risk of a potential gap in polar satellite weather forecasting coverage. Most importantly for the Gulf Coast region, PFO funding in FY16 will eliminate the potential for reduced accuracy in our weather forecasting capability. There is simply no suitable alternative to JPSS weather data.\nThe Gulf Coast states will continue to be among the primary beneficiaries of PFO funding and the JPSS system. JPSS employs unique capabilities to accurately track powerful weather systems such as hurricanes and large weather systems that may lead to tornados and floods. These forecasts provide the much needed notice for our communities to prepare for these events. In addition, the data derived from the JPSS satellites will also help in disaster recovery efforts as it will allow for precious resources to be more efficiently directed to affected areas. As you know, all of these weather events have particularly devastating effects on the region. The Gulf Coast has seen a disproportionate amount of death and destruction from massive weather events over the last several years, and we urgently need the JPSS system to remain on track by funding PFO in FY16.\nAs fellow representatives from Gulf Coast states, we strongly urge that you allow for funding of PFO in FY16 as the appropriations process moves forward. Additionally, we respectfully request that PFO be addressed as part of the Continuing Resolution since contracting and work need to commence early in the next fiscal year, for all of the reasons stated above.\nRespectfully,\nRep. Mo Brooks (AL)\nRep. Charles Boustany (LA)\nRep. Bradley Byrne (AL)\nRep. Patrick Murphy (FL)\nRep. Mike Rogers (AL)\nRep. Ron Desantis (FL)\nRep. John Mica (FL)\nRep. Bill Posey (FL)\nRep. Cedric Richmond (LA)\nRep. Alan Grayson (FL)\nRep. Randy Weber (TX)\n\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "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://brooks.house.gov/media-center/news-releases/brooks-calls-appropriators-support-critical-weather-program"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.7139969859272242, "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"}