gutting the satellite program from noaa, effectively removing $2 billion of noaa's $5 billion budget. it is typically forthcoming with information. unfortunately, this was not the case with questions the committee posed to noaa last fall after the last hearing. although we sent questions on october 17, we did not receive a response until june 7th, eight months later. i certainly hope noaa will be more responsive to the questions that we'll have after this hearing. now, i recognize mr. tonko, by good friend from new york. >> thank you. and thank you to our witnesses. this committee has been holding hearings to ask critical questions of these satellite programs since at least 2003. we have seen cycles of disaster as when we witnessed the jpss in its prior imposed skies double in costs before the entire enterprise was redesigned and rebaselined. we have witnessed herculean efforts to restructure acquisition plans, to get problems under control. frankly, despite these efforts, we have not had much to cheer about with jpss, and even gozar has been a source of concern. however, my sense is

in addition, noaa and nasa have established joint program management councils to oversee the noaa portfolio satellites and have integrated their decision-making processes to efficiently and effectively manage this cooperative activity. over the last two years the nasa teams have strengthened their working relationship? i am pleased to report that the nasa no team completed a development of mpp and it was successfully launched on october 28, 2011. activation and initial checkout are now complete and the jpss program have assumed operational control of the satellite and now renamed the national polar orbiting partnership and while mpp was not intended to be used as an operational asset, and noaa will have an mpp data with the forecasting models and as a measure of how well the mpp mission is progressing, no meteorologists are using data products from the instrument in the weather forecast and we're getting excellent performance from the instruments as well. nasa knows the ak -- nasa is no acquisition agent and now controls the instrument, spacecraft and ground system contracts. the first jpss

noaa is the one that's going to utilize it and doesn't it make sense that noaa and other age y agencies, such as the geological survey, to assume a greater role in actually procuring the equipment they need rather than nasa, who is basically aimed at exploration of space? wouldn't it make sense to go the other direction? that we're giving more rights to noaa to make those decisions rather than sharing it with nasa, which is not going to be necessarily utilizing the equipment after its already been procured? >> i think the logic you enunciate was some of the logic that drove the decision to unwind the program. to get responsibility aligned as tightly as possible with fiscal resources and program management. my colleagues at nasa appreciate the importance of this mission to the country as well as we do. i'm confident if the congress and its wisdom does direct this change -- >> i would hope the people start looking at that. if we're going to transfer authority and put some -- focus authority it should be the people that are going to use the system. and it would go to the heart of the matte

at the same prior hearing on noaa weather data, a panel of outside experts recommended that noaa undertake an observing system simulation experiment in ose, which i would hope you're familiar with the concept. with the concept. which would evaluate different capabilities and options to determine the best mix of systems that noaa should pursue. absent an ose, noaa is basing its weather data planning on subjective opinions. so dr. sullivan, when will noaa finally undertake an ose on tity tate an ossi system. when will noaa undertake the ossi? >> we will look at systems that we use them in the past. we have neither the high performance computing capacity or the man power to devote to a standing large effort to run multiple oscs and we did conduct an osc or more importantly an observing science center, and in the snowmageddon example that we spoke about at the hearing last year. we do them selectively and they will come into play as we look at the gaap mitigation strategies, and we would love to have the capacity the do more of them, because they are an important and rigorous tool. >> thank yo

what has noaa charged him to look at? will this review address the funding shortfall identified by gao? and will it adjust recommendations or just findings and will this review be available to congress and also will the findings be viewed and vetted by the administration prior to sharing with congress? >> thank you. mr. palazzo, for the question. mr. tom young does chair the independent review team who is charged with looking over the entire noaa portfolio, and yes, it is a late afternoon. and his co-chair is retired air force general tom mormon, and the rest of the panel, we can provide you the names and they are experienced space professionals. their charge is to look at any and all aspects of budget, management h, technical formulation that continue to or detract from the mission assurance in the satellite programs, as cess these assess provide both findings and recommendations. they brief me directly. they write their repot. their reports are not redacted by someone before reaching the noaa administrator, and nor as i

noaa is responsible for the afternoon orbit. do you know what the administration as a whole is doing to protect the entire con stelation? >> dr. harris, the administration has convened a task force to look across all of o the civilian agencies and get a better handle and greater coordination across those assets and their capabilities. i'm not aware of an active group. it may be my ignorance that's looking at the white house levels, specifically at the dwss and noaa constellations. i would say our program managers are active with both air force weather and command in los angeles. so we are interacting closely with them. we have a very long history of collaboration and mutual support with the defense department. i believe both parties recognize and appreciate the other's equities well and try to maintain awareness so we can do what we can do with the resources and latitude available to us to compliment and support each other. >> but does -- do you know how they are going to mitigate the risk? not noaa's afternoon orbit, but the ot

maybe they want to go into public service at a place like noaa. if they want to start a business, it helps people to enjoy and understand our water ways like that camp that i worked for that summer. taking canoe trips on the puget sound. we need to make sure they can make a difference just like all of you are making in your daily work. so what i want to do is conclude with a quote on a favorite person of mine. mr. president, i have right now his portrait behind my desk at the commerce department. president kennedy once said, knowledge of the oceans is more than a matter of curiosity, our very survival may hinge upon it. i think everyone here would agree, our oceans and our waters are critical to our prosperity, to our quality of life and to the future of our nation. so let's show them off, let's maximize the potential and let's inspire that next generation to follow in our footsteps. thank you very much and have a great, great week. thank you. [ applause ] >>> coming up this wednesday, jamie dimon testifies before the banking committee. they'll al

that's what noaa and the marine foundation are working towards every day. together they support 14 marine protected areas across the u.s., and these sanctuaries offer snorkeling, whale watching, fishing and much more. and although altogether noaa estimates that these communities and coastal businesses derive about $4 billion into our economy -- let me take it a little further. nationwide, we also see major impacts on our economy from things like recreational fishing. so when you add up the beach shops and the boat sales and the other economic drivers and fishing communities, that comes to more than $73 billion supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs. so let me talk for a minute, however, about a missed opportunity. our oceans, our coasts our great lakes are sometimes all entirely overlooked when both americans and international travelers plan their vacations. that's part of the reason why secretary salazar, the department of interior and i are heading up the administration's new national travel and tourism strategy, which was released just last month. we b

scientists at noaa are predicting that more is on the way. last week i held a roundtable discussion to discuss the coordination of efforts to detect, mitigate and clean up the debris resulting from the tsunami. it's an effort that involves multiple federal agencies and also state and local governments and even the public at large. additionally, the cost of the debris removal is looking certain to stretch the budgets of our state and local governments, but beyond this year, the cost of the debris, the potential of the debris to carry invasive species from japan such as those that were discovered on the dock poses a challenge to our scientists who have to assess the threat to the marine ecosystems. the two other federal agencies that have been working on the detection of the tsunami from the epa and noaa, considering noaa office's coordination on science matters and the potential impact on the debris of our coastal ecosystems, where do you see your office fitting into the response effort at a federal level and please describe any efforts that y

maybe they want to go into public service at a place like noaa. or perhaps they simply want to start a business that helps people understand and enjoy our waterwayslike the business i worked for that summer, taking campers on canoe trips on puget sound. we need to identify these young people. we need to nurture them and mentor them. and ultimately, we need to make sure they can make a difference, just like all of you are making today in your daily work. i will leave you with a quotation from one of my favorite presidents. i have a portrait of him behind my desk at the commerce department. president kennedy once said, "knowledge of the oceans is more than a matter of curiosity. our very survival may hinge upon it." i think that everyone here would agree. our oceans and waterways are critical to our prosperity, to our quality of life, and to the future of our nation. so, let's show them off. let's maximize their potential. and let's inspire the next generation to follow in our footsteps. thank you, and have a great week. [applause] >> coming up this

it is gratifying to hear about your partnership with noaa on the joint polar satellite. i want to get a feel for how you plan to achieve that? are the roles and the decision making authority and the governance and oversight clear? in other words, are these clear between the two agencies? >> yes. in fact, i think that one -- since the separation between the defense and the civilian side for weather satellites, if you look at the overall performance that we, noaa and nasa, have been able to achieve first and foremost with maintaining that we would launch on time in the october 2011 time period, we maintain that schedule. when you look across the schedules associated with the jpss-one we are currently on track, and we share meetings together, key decision points are jointly chaired between our respective agencies, and our programs are fully integrated at a green tech facility outside of goddard space flight center and the teams are working extremely well and it is a very good partnership. >> if i may mr. mcinerney, i would endorse marcus's comment, because there is a 40-yea

noaa is now dependent on european partner for data from the midmorning orbit. and it's anyone's guess what data the department of defense will supply from the early morning orbit. even more frustrating is the fact that this program still does not have a baseline cost or schedule. i understand that noaa is working towards developing this, but as they point out, the ground segment has already passed its critical design review. all of its contracts are signed. jpss 1 instruments are 60 to 95% complete.

we are in close coordination in that sense with both noaa and epa in their responsibilities around the coast, including the responsibilities for monitoring and responding to what reaches us from japan as a result of that devastating tsunami. we have been particularly engaged in my office in conducting and overseeing assessments and the levels of radioactive that have reach order could reach the united states. and the reassuring thing i can say about that is although our ability to monitor is so good that we're able to detect even very tiny concentrations of radioactivity, the radioactivity that has in fact reached the united states so far is all in that very tiny category and does not reach levels of public health concern. but we will continue to work with noaa and epa to monitor particularly that radioactivity aspect of what reaches our coast, but also other aspects. i will say that i think noaa, as with many agencies, has been struggling with 20 pounds of missions in a ten-pound budget. and we all struggle with that challenge today. i think noaa would tell you if administrator lubche

scientists at noaa are predicting that more is on the way. last week i held a round table discussion to discuss the coordination of efforts to detect, mitigate and clean up the debris resulting from the tsunami. it's an effort that involves multiple federal agencies, but also state and local governments and each the public at large -- even the public at large. additionally, the cost of the debris removal is looking certain to stretch the budgets of our state and local governments. but beyond the sheer cost of the debris, the potential for the debris to carry invasive species from japan such as those that were discovered on the dock poses a challenge to our scientists who have to assess the threat to the marine ecosystems. so two of the federal agencies who have been working on the detection and monitoring from the tsunami are the epa and noaa. considering your office's coordination with federal agencies on science matters and the potential impact of the debris on our coastal ecosystems, where do you see your office fitting into the response e

noaa predicts a good chance of seeing a good handful of image hurricanes. be prepared with a radio so you can hear updates, a three-day supply of food and wart. and fill your car's gas tank ahead of the storm. >> just about the only way to get into locust point is open just in the nick of time. it marks the start of the huge and long by centennial -- bicentennial celebration. >> the beaten up sign faces away from traffic. after nine long months, the ford avenue bridge is finally open. >> we needed to get it replaced. it was decades old. >> to get it done by the celebration -- >> it was a big challenge. >> reporter: not only because of the firs r--- first bicentennial celebration of the war of 1812 but the ones that will tom and a new charm city run. the ford avenue run was decaying in significant disrepair and unsafe. no one knew that more than the bridge lady. you had a sign on your door for how many years? >> i can't even tell you. >> reporter: what will it say? >> thank you for our new bridge. >> reporter: she is the bridge lady. she's been perched here

noaa the complexities of their sight, the cost to maintain the structures that they have, it is somethingthat we want to look at in terms of the long-term operations of that leasehold. depending on what the costs are, it might be something where we need to work with the operator to also determine what their long term plans are for the existing boat repair yard. if there is a need to relocate it were the concept proved to be feasible, it likely would not happen as part of an initial phase anyways, based on current funding we have, but we can hold the sites for that use and better articulate the phasing of it and then work with them on a long-term solution on how we could allow that to be -- to occur, so that it is mutually beneficial. >> isn't there another interested stakeholder for city? >> that is part of our outreach, too. we have been meeting with both city and odi on the development of the existing conditions and constraints which have been conducted to date, some of the design and thinking about the condition that are out there in the park. they are obviously key stakeholders that w

did want to also mention noaa's storm prediction center put out a light warning primarily for hail andamaging winds in some of the stronger thunderstorms across the mid-atlantic today. also an isolated threat for tornadoes. did want to mention this area from charleston to erie, pennsylvania, out towards d.c. make sure you have a way to get your warnings. not out of the question to get a tornado to spin up today. today is also the one year anniversary of the springfield, massachusetts, ef-3 tornado. only a year past that one. here through central florida, showers and storms today. maybe plan accordingly as far as tee times, assuming most folks in florida are playing golf today. there's a look at temperatures as you head out the door in new york city. later this afternoon, beautiful numbers but keep in mind that severe storm threat. >> todd santos, thanks for all your help this week. >> sure thing. >>> down two games to none in the western conference finals, the thunder faced a must win game three at home. oklahoma city against the spurs team that had not lost a single game since april 1

noaa says between four and eight of them will become hurricanes. the agency is also predicting that was those hurricanes one to three could become major hurricanes with top winds of 111 miles per hour or greater. >> keeps our weather department very busy. >> it does that. >>> fortunately, though, not the case this morning. >> no, but -- >> tom? >> we do have a risk for some strong thunderstorms later today. right now, it's all calm and quiet. there's a live view from our h.d. city camera. monuments under a cloudy sky on this friday. weather & traffic on the 1s at 4:41. here's what's been happening the last 12 hours. we've had clouds quickly closing in. patches of green are sprinkles of light rain in prince william, face facfauquier -- fauquier, stafford. the roadways may be getting damp. otherwise, a cloudy morning. temperatures now in the 60s. near 70 in washington and by the bay. elsewhere, 60s across most of maryland, virginia, into west virginia. and here's your day planner for this friday. showers likely through mid morning off and on. by noon

question implies, with the help of a lot of detailees, who come from the science agencies, and from noaa, nasa, d.o.d., and bring insights about those domains. and they enable us to cover the broad terrain in a way that we would not be able to cover if we had to do it all on our own budget. >> now, one last quick question. the current statute of limits of the office for social directors makes them subject to senate confirmation. and right now you're taking advantage of all four slots. but unfortunately, without any senate confirmed directors. do you have any thoughts, either on the number of the directors, or the requirement for senate confirmation? >> well, i think four confirmed directors corresponded to the four divisions. i think it's the right number. we started out after some delays in confirmation, having three of the four senate confirmed. the fourth, the president's nominee for national security and international affairs, was never confirmed, got an interim appointment, and subsequently that expired. and so he has left. but in the meantime, the senate confirmed associate directo

hear a report on whether the satellite programs run the oceanic atmospheric administration or noaa. congress has spent $6 million on that so far. we'll have that hearing at 2:00 p.m. eastern right here on c-span3. >>> july 7th and 8th, book tv explore the heritage and literary culture of missouri's state capital, jefferson city with with c-span's local content vehicles and book tv on the campus of lincoln university. >> this is probably the most famous book and this is the one we like to show to visitors when this is a book about harriet tubman called harriet, the moses of her people and the special thing about this, this book was written in 1866. the special thing about this book is that harriet tubman made her mark on there and that's really the most famous autograph, if you want to call it that, of what we have here in the paige library and obviously, she couldn't read or write so she left her mark, the sign of the cross. >> watch for book tv in jefferson city july 7th and 8th on c-span and book tv. >> i could have told you at the beginning of this year that here's how they would

will include the former secretary of the interior, bruce babbitt, and the current administrator of noaa, and it's my great honor to introduce the honorable fred keilly. >> good morning, few very much for all of you being here today, mr. secretary, thank you, sir, for literally gracing us with your presence. it's my honor to introduce to you the 37th commerce secretary of the united states. john bryson has a very, very interesting background that goes both wide and deep. after he graduated from hail law school, he was one of the folks who put together the national resources defense council and took a deep, abiding and lifelong interest in the preservation and enhancement of our national resources throughout the country. he also in california was the chair of the state water resources control board. that's worthying about for a second. california as mark twain once said, whisky is for drinking, water is for fighting over. so when you're the chair of the state water resources control board, and you understand that the water's in the north, the act chur is in the middle, and the people are

el nino, the seattle of based scientist with noaa overseas a global array of monitors sending realtime readings from equatorial waters >> to see the future you have to look below the surface. >> reporter: what's caught his attention is the warming water in the equator below the pacific possibly a sign of the a developing el nino. >> what happens there doesn't stay there. it resonates all over the world. >> reporter: when el nino peaks in the fall and winder it draws the jet stream south and has a huge influence on u.s. weather. here in the pacific northwest el nino means a warmer, drier winter, a smaller snow pack, drying reservoirs, more there are no rest fires. it brings pounding storms to california, torrential rains across the south, a moderate el nino could relieve the drought in texas and the southeast. but a big el nino like the one that hit in 1997 and '98 can be disastrous. that el nino did $2.6 billion of property damage, destroyed $2 billion worth of crops. the overall hit to the u.s. economy? $25 billion. >> el nino becomes like a biblical event. >> reporter: malibu mayor l

include transparency in data access issues, a position on the transition of the joint polar systems from noaa to nasa, a and a strategic plan for stem education. dr. holdren, i know you take your role seriously and as the house committee responsible for science, space, and technology, we also take our oversight role seriously. today we look forward to receiving your testimony and learning about the current organization and priorities of ostp and the administration as part of this committee's oversight and responsibilities. i thank you and i yield back my time. this time i recognize mrs. johnson for her opening statement. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman, and good morning. we are pleased to have this second hearing with dr. holdren to the committee. as you know, every year we invite the director in the office of science and technology policy to appear before the committee to help us understand and not just that this year's budget, but others as well. we live in an increasingly complex world, and the -- sorry -- the challenges we face will be both impacted by and hopefully alleviated by sci

bruce babbitt and current administrator of noaa. it's my great honor to recognize a longtime public servant and a lifelong lover of the ocean, the honorable fred keely. [ applause ] >> thank you. good morning. thank you very much for all of you being here today. mr. secretary, thank you, sir, for literally gracing us with your presence. it's my honor this morning to thousand up to the 37th commerce secretary of

question implies, with the help of a lot of detailees, who come from the science agencies, and from noaa, nasa, d.o.d., and bring insights about those

in fact, the noaa, have basically said that one-fifth of the united states right now is either in extreme or severe drought situation. the south bay, for example, has received 50% of its normal rainfall, the peninsula, 65%, oakland, which is right there on the bay, 72%, so -- what we have is this scenario set up for a really bad fire season and, of course, this weekend, we will have a red flag warning. at least in the north bay, if not in other parts, so there could be real problems. >> now, tom, predicting fire season and how it's going to go, there are some factors that we need to remember. we haven't had a lot of rain. >> right. >> winds are a factor. >> big factor and especially when you have winds that are going offshore, when the hot winds, when it gets so holt in the interior, it blows the winds, it fans the flames and makes the fires even worse. >> and it might sound really basic, but a lot of times people forget what causes fires. it's not necessarily someone who has been malicious. it can be basic things like using equipment, creating a spark. >> sure, yeah. and the overwhelming

. >> noaa forecast it's not going to be great today. out ahead of this front the next thing we have to talk about, severe weather for a big chunk of the country. stick around. >> ginger is going to be busy. >>> lot of other news developing overnight. for the latest headlines, ron claiborne. >> good morning, everyone. global markets are expected to get a big boost when they open tomorrow morning, when spain is expected to get out abailout. it eases concerns about the european debt crisis. it's blamed for slowing job growth here. >>> a gunman is on the loose in alabama, responsible for shooting deaths of three people near auburn university last night. at an apartment complex near the auburn coampus. >>> and the university of florida track and field team had quite a scare, hours after winning a national championship, their plane made a rough landing after their windshield cracked. he said the pilots, though, took it all in stride. >>> an update on a story that we brought to you yesterday, a 2-year-old oklahoma girl inside a vehicle that wa

reporter: last september police issued a warrant for a person of interest but as of today there is noaa rest. them assigned new detectives to the investigation. >> talking to the police and the police have a theory that he was being robbed. and we just learned that. and they believe if they can just get a few more tips they can possibly pull it together, cummings has repeatedly issued there message to the killer. >> i promise you we will finds you you didn't give christopher justice you slaughtered him. we want to make sure you get justice and we want to make slur you never do this to another human being again. >> reporter: the congressman said he thinks police are doing the very best they can on the case and everyone involved in it thinks eventually there will be an arrest. adam may wjz eyewitness news. >>> adam thank you since the murder police have increased patrols in the off campus neighborhood. >>> attorney general eric holder is grilled by congress about national security leaks. holder recently appointed two u. s. attorneys including maryland's records rosenstein to look into who

over the last 12 months it has been the longest 12 months in history, according to noaa.hey have been keeping whether record since 1895. >> we have had 15 straight warmer than normal month in baltimore. june is off to a cool start. we are going to change that pretty quick. >> beach weather coming up over the weekend. here is a live look down at the boardwalk and you see more activity down there as the summer season unfolds. kind of a hazy sky with a little cloud cover around, not a whole lot of sunshine. notice the lightning strikes out near salisbury to the south and east. may cross the beach here in the next hour or so. we got to see some isolated showers and storms. one popped up in carroll county in the last hour and one in northern frederick county. a shower across to the eastern area across calvert county. the potential is there for an isolated shower or thunderstorm for the next couple of hours. 60's in amounts and right on the coast but 80 inland and in downtown baltimore, 81 degrees. the high officially at the airport has been 80 so far. 83 at the inner harbor. n

noaa has been using this for storage and parking. they would like to secure this land which is now back under the ownership of the city. in exchange for these two parcels of land, they propose to transfer real estate to develop waterfront property for the purposes of creating a public green space as part of the overall redevelopment plan in the wake of hurricane katrina. they have identified the parcels of land to be considered and noaa is prepared to contract for the appraiseals necessary to prepare the acquisition and disposal documents. noaa and the city have expressed support for this land exchange and i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: i have no requests for time. mr. grijalva: i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: i was thinking about the other the gentleman from washington. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the

so far, the predictions from noaa have gotten increasingly accurate.they said there'd be 6-10, there turned out to be seven. but they don't predict how many will make landfall in the u.s. last year it was just one, hurricane irene, and even in quiet seasons, there is still real potential for danger. florida this summer is marking the 20th anniversary of hurricane andrew, a hurricane that caused devastation in south florida, $25 billion worth of damage. now, it came at the end of a very quiet hurricane season with just six named storms. jon, back to you. jon: oh, i remember andrew well. i was living down there back then. steve hairy michigan. jenna: steve hurricane. i like it. [laughter] all right, we have some ore big news to get -- other big news to get to. two murder suspects bust out of jail, and we're finding out who helped them escape. remember the hacksaw escape we told you about at the beginning of this week? more on that in just a moment. >>> plus, the political impact of today's job numbers. how the campaigns will talk about some of these gloo

according to the noaa, the spring has been the warmest of all time and last month was the second warmest may since record- keeping began. the average temperature for the 48 states was more than five degrees higher than 20th-century averages. new figures show this year's military suicide rate is on pace to reach a record high. the pentagon said there have been at least 154 suicides among active-duty troops the figure marks an 18% increase over the same period over a year ago. more u.s. soldiers have died by taking their own lives and have been killed on the battlefield. spain has agreed to accept a european union bailout. the move makes spain the fourth and largest european country to accept emergency international aid as part of the sovereign debt crisis. details on the terms of the deal have been kept under wraps with no mention of new austerity measures. after the bailout was announced, demonstrators with spain's's indignado movement gathered in madrid to protest. >> we say this is a scam because the age of 94 the banks. it should be the citizens who are most affected by the crisis. i