S.Amdt. 910

SA 910. Mr. PADILLA (for himself and Mr. Cornyn) submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 2226, to
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2024 for military activities
of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for
defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military
personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which
was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the appropriate place, insert the following:

SEC. ____. CONDUCT OF WINTER SEASON RECONNAISSANCE OF
ATMOSPHERIC RIVERS IN THE WESTERN UNITED
STATES.

(a) Conduct of Reconnaissance.--
(1) In general.--Subject to the availability of
appropriations, the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron of
the Air Force Reserve Command and the Administrator of the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration may use
aircraft, personnel, and equipment necessary to meet the
mission requirements of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance
Squadron of the Air Force Reserve Command and the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration if those aircraft,
personnel, and equipment are not otherwise needed for
hurricane monitoring and response.
(2) Activities.--In carrying out paragraph (1), the 53rd
Weather Reconnaissance Squadron of the Air Force Reserve
Command, in consultation with the Administrator of the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and
appropriate line offices of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, may--
(A) improve the accuracy and timeliness of observations to
support the forecast and warning services of the National
Weather Service for the coasts of the United States;
(B) collect data in data-sparse regions where conventional,
upper-air observations are lacking;
(C) support water management decisions and flood
forecasting through the execution of targeted airborne
dropsonde, buoys, autonomous platform observations, satellite
observations, remote sensing observations, and other
observation platforms as appropriate, including enhanced
assimilation of the data from those observations over the
eastern, central, and western north Pacific Ocean, the Gulf
of Mexico, and the western Atlantic Ocean to improve
forecasts of large storms for civil authorities and military
decision makers;
(D) participate in the research and operations partnership
that guides flight planning and uses research methods to
improve and expand the capabilities and effectiveness of
weather reconnaissance over time; and
(E) undertake such other additional activities as the
Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, in collaboration with the 53rd Weather
Reconnaissance Squadron, considers appropriate to further
prediction of dangerous weather events.
(b) Reports.--
(1) Air force.--
(A) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Air Force, in
consultation with the Administrator of the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration, shall submit to the
appropriate committees of Congress a comprehensive report on
the resources necessary for the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance
Squadron of the Air Force Reserve Command to continue to
support, through December 31, 2035--
(i) the National Hurricane Operations Plan;
(ii) the National Winter Season Operations Plan; and
(iii) any other operational requirements relating to
weather reconnaissance.
(B) Appropriate committees of congress.--In this paragraph,
the term ``appropriate committees of Congress'' means--
(i) the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate;
(ii) the Subcommittee on Defense of the Committee on
Appropriations of the Senate;
(iii) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation of the Senate;
(iv) the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the
House of Representatives;
(v) the Committee on Armed Services of the House of
Representatives; and
(vi) the Subcommittee on Defense of the Committee on
Appropriations of the House of Representatives.
(2) Commerce.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce shall submit
to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and

[[Page S3085]]

Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Science,
Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives a
comprehensive report on the resources necessary for the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to continue
to support, through December 31, 2035--
(A) the National Hurricane Operations Plan;
(B) the National Winter Season Operations Plan; and
(C) any other operational requirements relating to weather
reconnaissance.
______