National Windstorm Impact Reduction Act Reauthorization of 2015

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 23) to reauthorize the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 23, the bill now under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 23, the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Act Reauthorization of 2015, reauthorizes the activities of the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program through 2017.

Representative Randy Neugebauer, my Texas colleague, has championed this program for over a decade. In the last Congress, he and Representative Frederica Wilson's bipartisan efforts helped move this legislation through the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology and to successfully pass the House. It is because of their past work that we are able to bring this bill to the House floor so early in this Congress.

The National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program supports Federal research and development efforts to help mitigate the loss of life and property due to wind-related hazards. Millions of Americans live in areas vulnerable to hurricanes, tornadoes, and other windstorms. The National Weather Service reported 91 deaths and 892 injuries in 2013 due to tornadoes, thunderstorm wind, and high wind.

We all remember that in 2011 that was the year marred by loss due to windstorms. According to the National Science and Technology Council's biennial report to Congress, in 2011 only, windstorms in the United States took nearly 700 lives, injured nearly 7,000 people, and caused an estimated $11 billion in total direct property losses.

In Texas, we are all too familiar with the harm that excess wind can cause. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Storm Prediction Center, 128 tornadoes and 1,366 windstorms were reported in Texas in the last 2 years. The effects of these disasters can be felt for a long time.

Initially established in 2004, the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program supports activities to improve our understanding of windstorms and their impacts and helps to develop and encourage the implementation of cost-effective mitigation measures.

H.R. 23 establishes the National Institute of Standards and Technology as the lead agency for the program, improves coordination and planning of agency activities in a fiscally responsible manner, and improves transparency for how much money is being spent on windstorm research.

I want to thank Representative Neugebauer for his continued efforts to support this program. I encourage my colleagues to support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, House of

Representatives,

Washington, DC, January 6, 2015.

Hon. Lamar Smith,

Chairman, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology,

Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC.

Dear Mr. Chairman: I write concerning H.R. 23, the National

Windstorm Impact Reduction Act Reauthorization of 2015. Thank

you for working with us to incorporate mutually agreeable

provisions within the Rule X jurisdiction of the Committee on

Transportation and Infrastructure.

In order to expedite the House's consideration of H.R. 23,

the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure will forgo

action on this bill. However, this is conditional on our

mutual understanding that forgoing consideration of the bill

does not prejudice the Committee with respect to the

appointment of conferees or to any future jurisdictional

claim over the subject matters contained in the bill or

similar legislation that fall within the Committee's Rule X

jurisdiction. I request you urge the Speaker to name members

of the Committee to any conference committee named to

consider such provisions.

I would appreciate your response to this letter, confirming

this understanding, and would request that you insert our

exchange of letters on this matter into the Congressional

Record during consideration of this bill on the House floor.

Sincerely,

Bill Shuster,

Chairman.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Neugebauer), who is the lead sponsor of this legislation and also a member of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.

Mr. Speaker, I have no other Members who wish to be heard on this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my bill, the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Act, H.R. 23. I also want to thank Chairman Smith for his leadership on this issue, and I appreciate him agreeing to bring this back up early in the 114th Congress.

I think we have already heard of a number of people quote a lot of statistics about the amount of damage that occurs from windstorms in this country and the loss of lives. You know, particularly 2011 was a very bad year. As it was pointed out, we had a number of people that were killed that year and over $28 billion in damage to property alone.

What is happening is the risk is growing because our population centers are growing. You know, a tornado that goes through a town center does a lot more damage than one that goes through an empty prairie. As these storms are getting costlier over time, at a time where we are $18 trillion in debt, it is important that we utilize the taxpayers' resources in an effective way. This particular program, as it was mentioned, is reauthorized at a fixed level, the level from previous reauthorization, but also it is designed to make the program more efficient and effective in the future.

When a family loses a home, you know, they don't have to just rebuild the house; they have to rebuild their lives. We know a lot of people have either experienced losses of property or life, loved ones, or they know people that have.

In particular, it is a personal thing for me because, on May 11th of 1970, I had just taken my last final for that semester at Texas Tech University, and 3 hours or 4 hours later, a major tornado ripped through Lubbock, Texas, and killed 26 people, including destroying the apartment complex that I lived in.

I was fortunately unharmed in that event, but what I did get to witness is the tremendous amount of damage that can happen from these storms and the loss of life. You saw things that you didn't think were possible--cars in parking lots that were rolled up and swirled up like an ice cream cone.

So one of the things that later on, to me, in the building business, one of the things that we began to learn is, from important research that was done, that we were able to use certain building techniques that made houses more wind resistant, made buildings more wind resistant, and that is exactly what this bill, NWIRP, does. It takes these four agencies that currently have jurisdiction over that--and those include NOAA, the National Science Foundation, FEMA, and NIST-- and makes sure that they are using those funds appropriately and that there is not a lot of duplication in the research going on. Each one of them has an area of expertise. We want to do a better job of predicting these storms. We want to do a better job of learning how we can mitigate the damage from those.

One of the things that happened right after the May 11 tornado in Lubbock is that Texas Tech University began doing research on windstorms and the effects of different materials, and later on they founded the National Wind Institute, which is doing important research on simulating cyclones and different kinds of wind events and the impact that they have on materials and certain building techniques. Certainly that will be important to our country as we move forward.

What does that do for the taxpayers? Well, obviously if we can learn more about predicting the outcomes, we can make our buildings stronger, but, more importantly, save lives. And one of the things I know from a lot of the research that has been going on right now, that designs are being incorporated in a lot of buildings.

Recently I was at a new elementary school in my district, and one of the things that we learned is that they incorporated certain building techniques within the cafeteria of that new elementary. Basically, the cafeteria became a storm shelter for the students going to that elementary. Those are the kind of things that will be beneficial from this.

I urge my colleagues to help me reauthorize H.R. 23.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 23. This legislation would reauthorize the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program, or NWIRP.

The Federal Government has an important role in helping Americans prepare for and recover from natural hazards. H.R. 23 directs four Federal agencies--NIST, NSF, NOAA, and FEMA--to conduct coordinated research and development on the nature of windstorms, their effects, and on ways to mitigate their impact. The legislation also ensures that this research is translated into practice through improved building codes and emergency planning.

I was born and raised in south Florida, and I am a survivor of Hurricane Andrew, so I have seen my share of severe weather. I know firsthand that natural hazards are a leading threat to American lives and America's economy.

While we cannot stop a hurricane or tornado from happening, this Congress can act to make sure our communities have the tools they need to respond and recover from these disasters.

We must begin by investing in preparedness and resilience. Studies of FEMA's pre-disaster mitigation program have shown that for every dollar we invest in mitigation activities we save $3 to $4 in recovery costs.

I was pleased that this bill was considered in the Science Committee last Congress, and we worked in a bipartisan manner to make several improvements to the bill. I want to thank my colleagues, Chairman Smith and Mr. Neugebauer, for working across the aisle in a smooth and productive process.

We worked together to increase the authorization for FEMA, the NWIRP agency tasked with taking the research conducted at other agencies and developing mitigation techniques and public outreach. Mr. Neugebauer was the lead, and I appreciate his inclusion.

Additionally, we added several social science-related provisions to the bill. We cannot design effective disaster strategies without knowing how people make decisions and respond to disaster warnings.

Often in a compromise, like this one, you do not get everything you would like. I would have liked to see increases in the authorization levels across the board. Unfortunately, this bill includes a lower total authorization level than what was authorized for this program in fiscal year 2008.

When the last few years have been devastating years for windstorms, including Superstorm Sandy and the tornado outbreak last May, it is difficult

to understand why we would cut the total authorization level for this important program.

I do hope that if this bill moves forward, we will continue our bipartisan efforts and work with the Senate to perfect this bill. Nevertheless, I understand the need to reauthorize this important program that can help minimize the number of Americans who are harmed or killed by windstorm disasters and reduce the costs associated * * *

I support H.R. 23 and urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise in support of H.R. 23, legislation to reauthorize the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program.

First I want to thank Representatives Neugebauer and Wilson for their hard work on this important legislation that will benefit our constituents.

Americans face significant exposure to windstorms. According to the National Weather Service, between the years of 2003 and 2013, thousands of Americans lost their lives from the impacts of windstorms. Along with the loss of life, windstorms during that time caused billions of dollars of damage to property, including a severely negative impact on agricultural crops.

Although we cannot stop a windstorm from happening, there is much we can do to save both lives and property when windstorms and other natural disasters do happen. In addition to

responding quickly and with sufficient resources in the aftermath of a natural disaster, we must also invest in preparedness and resilience.

Studies of FEMA's Pre-Disaster Mitigation program have shown that for every dollar invested in mitigation activities, $3 to $4 in recovery costs can be saved.

The National Windstorm Reduction Program Act is primarily a mitigation program. It has the potential to lessen the loss of life and economic damage by supporting research and development on windstorms and their impacts and helping to ensure that this research is translated into improving building codes and emergency planning, but this program needs robust investment to achieve that result.

The bill today includes a lower total authorization level than was authorized for this program in fiscal year 2008. We can and we should do better than that. One of our responsibilities as a government should be to assist our constituents with disaster mitigation and response and preparedness, and that means investing in programs we already have in place to carry out these responsibilities. Nevertheless, I understand the need to reauthorize this important program, and I thank my colleagues for agreeing to maintain the authorization levels negotiated last Congress.

I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this important bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wilson), who is a cosponsor of the bill, and also a member of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and so in closing, we must help our constituents prepare for and mitigate the impacts of severe weather events, such as windstorms, that threaten their lives and property. This bill takes an important step in that direction, and I urge its adoption.

With that, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 23, legislation that would reauthorize the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program--or NWIRP.

The last few years have been devastating years for natural disasters across the country. There were massive tornadoes across the Midwest that resulted in loss of life and significant economic damages. In addition, Hurricane Irene in 2011 and Superstorm Sandy in 2012 caused widespread destruction and death along the Eastern seaboard.

H.R. 23 directs NIST, NSF, NOAA, and FEMA to support activities to improve the understanding of windstorms and their impacts. We can use that knowledge to reduce the vulnerability of our communities to natural disasters. The NWIRP program helps our federal agencies and communities across the nation develop and implement many measures that help minimize the loss of life and property during windstorms and to rebuild effectively and safely after such storms.

I was pleased that when this bill was considered by the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee last Congress, we worked in a bipartisan manner and made several improvements to the bill.

We worked together to increase the authorization for FEMA, the agency tasked with implementing the research conducted by the other NWIRP agencies. Additionally, we added several social science-related provisions to the bill. We cannot design effective disaster preparation strategies without understanding how people make decisions and respond to disaster warnings.

This is a compromise bill and so it doesn't contain as much as I think should be done. In particular, I wish this bill included authorization increases for the NWIRP agencies--increases that are justified by the important activities those agencies carry out. However, it is still a good bill and an important bill for us to act on.

I want to thank my fellow Texans--Chairman Smith and Mr. Neugebauer-- for working across the aisle on this bill and for bringing it to the floor today. And I want to thank Ms. Wilson for her efforts on this legislation. It was good to see Members of the Committee coming together, working out their differences, compromising, and ending up with a bill with bipartisan support.

I support the bill and urge my colleagues to support this important bill.