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NOAA Congress
Mon Apr 25, 2005
Listen in RealAudio 
Hi, I’m Bryan Yeaton for The Weather Notebook. NOAA, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, is primarily concerned with hurricanes and blizzards and tsunamis and tornadoes. But all these have political as well as physical and social impacts, so NOAA has a branch whose job it is to trudge up to Capitol Hill, and talk to Congress. This is Scott Carter, of Legislative Affairs.
When a member of congress wants some information I have to be able to know exactly what they want and I have to be able to go find somebody who can provide that to him.
When weather hits unexpectedly or expectedly and causes damage or takes certain actions any members of the congress would like to have some answers to what we did.
But, says Carter, they also have to fight for funding, or justify NOAA’s response to a major event.
We try not to make it political because we want to stick to our science. With all these major events, hurricanes and things of that nature, sometimes it just gets into that.
So, both education and justification are a part of it?
Exactly right Bryan. Education is probably the most key aspect. We have many members that are weather savvy. Many of questions are quite technical and scientific. So, I have to bring the subject matter expert up there and make sure they put the issue and terms in the layman’s terms. We do have, I think there is two scientists in the whole Congress. One is Mr. Vern Ehlers, of Michigan. He was actually a teaching physicist.
So, when Congress wants to know, Scott Carter is ready.
I am an information provider. That's what we try to do in our office and I think we do pretty good.
The Weather Notebook is funded by Subaru of America.
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