I like seeing Senators Mark Begich (D. AK) and Brian Schatz (D. HI) work together on legislation:
http://www.marinelink.com/...
U.S. Senators Mark Begich, Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Brian Schatz (D-HI) introduced legislation to strengthen the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Commissioned Officer Corps as a national asset and improve its ability to recruit and retain talented candidates like other uniformed services.
Begich is chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and Coast Guard. Wicker and Schatz serve on the subcommittee as well.
The NOAA Corps’ primary mission is to operate NOAA’s fleet of research ships and aircraft. They conduct hydrographic surveys, which are key to domestic commerce. The ships NOAA operates provide fishery managers the data the need to keep fish stocks healthy and coastal communities prosperous. In addition, NOAA officers fly the agency’s “Hurricane Hunter” aircraft, which gather the data needed to forecast hurricane landfalls in conjunction with a Mississippi-based Air Force weather squadron. During Hurricane Sandy, the NOAA Corps was instrumental in improving the hurricane track forecast and quickly surveying and reopening the ports to relief supplies and commerce.
The Begich-Wicker-Schatz bill provides mechanisms to more closely align NOAA Corps officers’ obligations and benefits with other uniformed services. It gives the Corps new tools to improve its diversity, retain more senior female officers and develop their ability to support NOAA missions. - Marine Link, 5/28/13
Here's a little more info from Senator Roger Wicker's (R. MS) website on the bill:
http://www.wicker.senate.gov/...
The NOAA Corps Amendments Act of 2013 would:
• Improve the Corps’ diversity by creating incentive programs to draw students with a science or engineering background.
• Balance the demands of senior officers with families by authorizing unpaid sabbatical for officers so they can leave the service for a few years to start a family and return at the rank they achieved before leaving. NOAA ships usually deploy for 9-10 months a year, making family life challenging for NOAA officers.
• Limit spending increases on new education programs to savings the bill generates elsewhere.
• Add the authority to require a period of obligated service after initial training to strengthen retention of officers and save taxpayer dollars.
Here's what Begich and Schatz have to say about the bill:
“From maritime activities and resource development to fisheries and commercial transportation, oceans are key to Alaska’s economic prosperity,” said Begich. “We rely on the NOAA Corps to chart shipping routes, survey fish populations, and conduct scientific research. To be successful, we need to attract the best and brightest young men and women to the Corps and ensure that we retain knowledgeable senior officers – this bill will let us do just that.
“I join my colleagues to salute the men and women of the NOAA Corps with a bill that recognizes their contributions to our home states and the nation by putting them on equal footing with other men and women in uniform,” said Senator Brian Schatz. “I am grateful for their service to Hawaii in particular, where they provide critical support to forecast weather, manage our fisheries, and preserve the unique character of our World Heritage site, the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument.”
Strengthening the NOAA is a smart move especially with hurricane season upon us:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/...
This could be a slightly busier hurricane season than normal, one of the most active in history or somewhere in between. The government's outlook doesn't get much more specific than that, leaving in question what might actually lie ahead.
But the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration makes no apologies. It says the atmosphere is too chaotic to confidently predict a specific number of storms and hurricanes that might develop between June 1 and Nov. 30.
"There's always uncertainty in how the climate factors will come together, exactly," said Gerry Bell, NOAA's lead hurricane forecaster.
NOAA's prediction for the 2013 Atlantic season calls for 13 to 20 named storms, including seven to 11 hurricanes, of which three to six could be major.
If the low end of those predictions turns out to be true, it would be slightly more active than normal, as the average year sees 12 named storms, including six hurricanes, three major. If the high end happens, it would be the second busiest season on record, tied with 1933. - Sun Sentinel, 5/28/13
If you'd like to get more information on the bill, you can do so here:
http://www.govtrack.us/...
Or you can contact Begich or Schatz's offices for more details:
Begich: (202) 224-3004
Schatz: (202) 224-3934