They are trying to remove your weather access

[Dylan Smith]

You might want to write to Rick Santorum and tell him why this is such a
bad idea:

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/news/epaper/2005/04/21/m1a_wx_0421.html

Essentially, Accuweather has paid Sen. Rick Santorum to put this bill
through the Senate, to force the NWS/NOAA to take a great amount of its
freely available weather offline. This will only have adverse safety
implications for general aviation. Apparently, the Australian experience
of removing free weather access has been a string of weather-related
accidents.

You can write to Santorum here:
Santorum, Rick- (R - PA) Class I
511 DIRKSEN
SENATE OFFICE BUILDING
WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-6324

--
Dylan Smith, Castletown, Isle of Man
Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net
Frontier Elite Universe: http://www.alioth.net
"Maintain thine airspeed, lest the ground come up and smite thee"

[Larry Dighera]

On Fri, 22 Apr 2005 10:13:46 -0000, Dylan Smith
> wrote in
>::

>You might want to write to Rick Santorum and tell him why this is such a
>bad idea:
>
>http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/news/epaper/2005/04/21/m1a_wx_0421.html
>
>Essentially, Accuweather has paid Sen. Rick Santorum to put this bill
>through the Senate, to force the NWS/NOAA to take a great amount of its
>freely available weather offline.

From this it seems that your assertion may have reasonable credence:

But Barry Myers, AccuWeather's executive vice president, said the
bill would improve public safety by making the weather service
devote its efforts to hurricanes, tsunamis and other dangers,
rather than duplicating products already available from the
private sector.

"The National Weather Service has not focused on what its core
mission should be, which is protecting other people's lives and
property," said Myers, whose company is based in State College,
Pa. Instead, he said, "It spends hundreds of millions of dollars a
year, every day, producing forecasts of 'warm and sunny.'"

Santorum made similar arguments April 14 when introducing his
bill. He also said expanded federal services threaten the
livelihoods of private weather companies.

"It is not an easy prospect for a business to attract advertisers,
subscribers or investors when the government is providing similar
products and services for free," Santorum said.

AccuWeather has been an especially vocal critic of the weather
service and its parent agency, the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration.

It would seem that AccuWeather wants the NWS to provide them with tax
payer funded information, so they can charge us for it AND clutter it
with advertising.

"I believe I've paid for that data once. ... I don't want to have
to pay for it again," said Scott Bradner, a technical consultant
at Harvard University.

>This will only have adverse safety implications for general aviation.
>Apparently, the Australian experience of removing free weather access
>has been a string of weather-related accidents.

Are you able to provide a link to information that supports that
change in Australian aviation safety?

>You can write to Santorum here:
>Santorum, Rick- (R - PA) Class I
>511 DIRKSEN
>SENATE OFFICE BUILDING
>WASHINGTON DC 20510
>(202) 224-6324

[Dave S]

The gist of this is... they want to remove information that the US
Government paid for to collect with its own resources from public FREE
sources... and allow a third party to CHARGE for disseminating data that
it didn't pay to collect... Thats how I read it.

Dave

Larry Dighera wrote:

> On Fri, 22 Apr 2005 10:13:46 -0000, Dylan Smith
> > wrote in
> >::
>
>
>>You might want to write to Rick Santorum and tell him why this is such a
>>bad idea:
>>
>>http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/news/epaper/2005/04/21/m1a_wx_0421.html
>>
>>Essentially, Accuweather has paid Sen. Rick Santorum to put this bill
>>through the Senate, to force the NWS/NOAA to take a great amount of its
>>freely available weather offline.
>
>
> From this it seems that your assertion may have reasonable credence:
>
> But Barry Myers, AccuWeather's executive vice president, said the
> bill would improve public safety by making the weather service
> devote its efforts to hurricanes, tsunamis and other dangers,
> rather than duplicating products already available from the
> private sector.
>
> "The National Weather Service has not focused on what its core
> mission should be, which is protecting other people's lives and
> property," said Myers, whose company is based in State College,
> Pa. Instead, he said, "It spends hundreds of millions of dollars a
> year, every day, producing forecasts of 'warm and sunny.'"
>
> Santorum made similar arguments April 14 when introducing his
> bill. He also said expanded federal services threaten the
> livelihoods of private weather companies.
>
> "It is not an easy prospect for a business to attract advertisers,
> subscribers or investors when the government is providing similar
> products and services for free," Santorum said.
>
> AccuWeather has been an especially vocal critic of the weather
> service and its parent agency, the National Oceanic and
> Atmospheric Administration.
>
> It would seem that AccuWeather wants the NWS to provide them with tax
> payer funded information, so they can charge us for it AND clutter it
> with advertising.
>
> "I believe I've paid for that data once. ... I don't want to have
> to pay for it again," said Scott Bradner, a technical consultant
> at Harvard University.
>
>
>>This will only have adverse safety implications for general aviation.
>>Apparently, the Australian experience of removing free weather access
>>has been a string of weather-related accidents.
>
>
> Are you able to provide a link to information that supports that
> change in Australian aviation safety?
>
>
>>You can write to Santorum here:
>>Santorum, Rick- (R - PA) Class I
>>511 DIRKSEN
>>SENATE OFFICE BUILDING
>>WASHINGTON DC 20510
>>(202) 224-6324
>
>

[Jim]

It would probably be more effective to write to your own senator. Too
late for Santorum, I'm sure.

-Jim

[W P Dixon]

Not to mention most Senators do not accept mail or email from people not in
their own district. Your snail mail would more than likely end up in the
trash and not even opened.

Patrick
student SPL
aircraft structural mech

"Jim" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> It would probably be more effective to write to your own senator. Too
> late for Santorum, I'm sure.
>
> -Jim
>

[Larry Dighera]

On 22 Apr 2005 07:31:27 -0700, "Jim" > wrote in
om>::

>It would probably be more effective to write to your own senator. Too
>late for Santorum, I'm sure.
>
>-Jim


I wrote the following to the author of the Palm Beach Post article
inquiring how the senator's proposed act would impact aviation safety:


Larry Dighera wrote:

>Dear Mr. King:
>
>Thank you for your insightful and informative article regarding
>Sen. Rick Santorum's National Weather Service bill.
>
>Have you any information about how the proposal might affect
>weather forecasts and observations disseminated to pilots. As an
>FAA certificated Commercial Pilot, I am concerned that it would
>negatively impact aviation safety.
>
>Best regards,
>Larry Dighera

>


and received the following:


Message-ID: >
Date: Fri, 22 Apr 2005 10:54:17 -0400
From: "Bob King" >
Organization: The Palm Beach Post
To: Larry Dighera >
Subject: Re: Feds' weather information could go dark

Hi, and thanks for writing.

I'm afraid I don't know the answer to your question. The bill says
the weather service could continue to provide information that's
required under international aviation agreements, but I'm not sure
if that would cover all the information you're concerned about. I
was unable to get anyone from Santorum's office to discuss the
bill with me, although they were kind enough to send me the text.

I will try to find out more on that question for any followup
articles I write.

Thank you again.

-- Bob King
The Palm Beach Post


I'm still waiting for a reply from Senator Santorum.

[Matt]

W P Dixon wrote:
> Not to mention most Senators do not accept mail or email from people not
> in their own district. Your snail mail would more than likely end up in
> the trash and not even opened.
>
> Patrick
> student SPL
> aircraft structural mech
>
> "Jim" > wrote in message
> ups.com...
>
>> It would probably be more effective to write to your own senator. Too
>> late for Santorum, I'm sure.
>>
>> -Jim
>>
>
They way I look at it is our taxes go to the government to
pay for such services. We shouldn't have to pay twice.

I can see it now, your inflight and you need a weather update
and you hear the breifer say "how are you going to pay for this?".
I wonder if this idea is just riding on the moementum of FS21.

Matt

[Andrew Gideon]

Larry Dighera wrote:

> SantorumÂ*madeÂ*similarÂ*argumentsÂ*AprilÂ*14Â*whe nÂ*introducingÂ*his
> bill.Â*HeÂ*alsoÂ*saidÂ*expandedÂ*federalÂ*services Â*threatenÂ*the
> livelihoodsÂ*ofÂ*privateÂ*weatherÂ*companies.

Makers of gas lamps and horse buggies should be bribing this guy next.
Something needs to be done about the threat of automobiles (and government
funded highways) and electric lights.

- Andrew

[Matt Barrow]

"Matt" <" <no email> wrote in message
...
>
> I can see it now, your inflight and you need a weather update
> and you hear the breifer say "how are you going to pay for this?".

(Under government, it's the IRS that collects the "fee")

Have your heard about the new system they use for toll roads?

[Matt Barrow]

"Andrew Gideon" > wrote in message
online.com...
> Larry Dighera wrote:
>
> > Santorum made similar arguments April 14 when introducing his
> > bill. He also said expanded federal services threaten the
> > livelihoods of private weather companies.
>
> Makers of gas lamps and horse buggies should be bribing this guy next.
> Something needs to be done about the threat of automobiles (and government
> funded highways) and electric lights.

And HHS threatens the United Way, Salvation Army....

Social Security threatens savings and investment institutions.

Is Santorum willing to unload HHS, Social Security? As a typical statist,
I'm betting NOT!

[Mortimer Schnerd, RN]

Matt" < wrote:
> They way I look at it is our taxes go to the government to
> pay for such services. We shouldn't have to pay twice.


Exactly so. It's obviously a sweetheart deal for the weather venders. In any
case, I wrote to both of my U.S. senators today about this ill-advised
legislation to express my disapproval. Wrote them... not emailed. If I go to
the trouble of writing them, I'll get a reply in the mail. That doesn't always
happen with emails.

Have any of you gone to the trouble of writing? This should be important to all
of us.




--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN

[Peter Clark]

On Sat, 23 Apr 2005 00:38:21 GMT, "Mortimer Schnerd, RN"
> wrote:

>Matt" < wrote:
>> They way I look at it is our taxes go to the government to
>> pay for such services. We shouldn't have to pay twice.
>
>
>Exactly so. It's obviously a sweetheart deal for the weather venders. In any
>case, I wrote to both of my U.S. senators today about this ill-advised
>legislation to express my disapproval. Wrote them... not emailed. If I go to
>the trouble of writing them, I'll get a reply in the mail. That doesn't always
>happen with emails.
>
>Have any of you gone to the trouble of writing? This should be important to all
>of us.

When's the vote? Snail-mail (rather than fax) might not get there
through the screenings before a vote.

[Robert B.]

"Dylan Smith" > wrote in message
...
> You might want to write to Rick Santorum and tell him why this is such a
> bad idea:
>
>
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/news/epaper/2005/04/21/m1a_wx_0421
..html
>
> Essentially, Accuweather has paid Sen. Rick Santorum to put this bill
> through the Senate, to force the NWS/NOAA to take a great amount of its
> freely available weather offline. This will only have adverse safety
> implications for general aviation. Apparently, the Australian experience
> of removing free weather access has been a string of weather-related
> accidents.
>
> You can write to Santorum here:
> Santorum, Rick- (R - PA) Class I
> 511 DIRKSEN
> SENATE OFFICE BUILDING
> WASHINGTON DC 20510
> (202) 224-6324
>
> --
> Dylan Smith, Castletown, Isle of Man
> Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net
> Frontier Elite Universe: http://www.alioth.net
> "Maintain thine airspeed, lest the ground come up and smite thee"

Sounds like another case of the R's trying to privatize everything or
working it so that the only groups that benefit from government services are
companies that can turn around and charge us to get what they got for free.

[George Patterson]

Dylan Smith wrote:
>
> Essentially, Accuweather has paid Sen. Rick Santorum to put this bill
> through the Senate, to force the NWS/NOAA to take a great amount of its
> freely available weather offline.

I spent a fair amount of time last night trying to locate a copy of the bill.
Couldn't even locate the bill number. If the language used in the article you
referenced is correct, however, the NWS would not be able to provide info to
Accuweather either. A lot of the NWS could effectively be disbanded; it wouldn't
have to do anything that a private company also does.

George Patterson
There's plenty of room for all of God's creatures. Right next to the
mashed potatoes.

[Nathan Young]

On Sat, 23 Apr 2005 19:23:36 GMT, George Patterson
> wrote:

>Dylan Smith wrote:
>>
>> Essentially, Accuweather has paid Sen. Rick Santorum to put this bill
>> through the Senate, to force the NWS/NOAA to take a great amount of its
>> freely available weather offline.
>
>I spent a fair amount of time last night trying to locate a copy of the bill.
>Couldn't even locate the bill number. If the language used in the article you
>referenced is correct, however, the NWS would not be able to provide info to
>Accuweather either. A lot of the NWS could effectively be disbanded; it wouldn't
>have to do anything that a private company also does.

http://santorum.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressOffice.View&ContentRecord_id=1180&CFID=12120429&CFTOKEN=48522178

[Nathan Young]

On Sat, 23 Apr 2005 20:07:41 GMT, Nathan Young
> wrote:

>On Sat, 23 Apr 2005 19:23:36 GMT, George Patterson
> wrote:
>
>>Dylan Smith wrote:
>>>
>>> Essentially, Accuweather has paid Sen. Rick Santorum to put this bill
>>> through the Senate, to force the NWS/NOAA to take a great amount of its
>>> freely available weather offline.
>>
>>I spent a fair amount of time last night trying to locate a copy of the bill.
>>Couldn't even locate the bill number. If the language used in the article you
>>referenced is correct, however, the NWS would not be able to provide info to
>>Accuweather either. A lot of the NWS could effectively be disbanded; it wouldn't
>>have to do anything that a private company also does.
>
>http://santorum.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressOffice.View&ContentRecord_id=1180&CFID=12120429&CFTOKEN=48522178
>
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:s786:

[George Patterson]

Nathan Young wrote:
>
> http://santorum.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressOffice.View&ContentRecord_id=1180&CFID=12120429&CFTOKEN=48522178

Great! That got me the name, and a little work with Yahoo! turned that into this.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:s786:

Which clearly states --

"(c) ISSUANCE OF DATA, FORECASTS, AND WARNINGS-

(1) IN GENERAL- All data, information, guidance, forecasts, and warnings
received, collected, created, or prepared by the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration or the National Weather Service shall, to the maximum
extent practicable, be issued in real time, and without delay for internal use,
in a manner that ensures that all members of the public have the opportunity for
simultaneous and equal access to such data, information, guidance, forecasts,
and warnings.

(2) MODE OF ISSUANCE- Data, information, guidance, forecasts, and warnings shall
be issued under paragraph (1) through a set of data portals designed for volume
access by commercial providers of products or services and by such other
mechanisms as the Secretary of Commerce considers appropriate for purposes of
that paragraph."

In other words, the NWS is required to provide everything to commercial
companies as rapidly as possible, and we have to buy it from them. Clear as can be.

George Patterson
There's plenty of room for all of God's creatures. Right next to the
mashed potatoes.

[Andrew Gideon]

George Patterson wrote:

> in a manner that ensures that all members of the public have
> the opportunity for simultaneous and equal access to such data,
> information, guidance, forecasts, and warnings.

Why doesn't this protect our access?

- Andrew

[George Patterson]

Andrew Gideon wrote:
> George Patterson wrote:
>
>
>>in a manner that ensures that all members of the public have
>>the opportunity for simultaneous and equal access to such data,
>>information, guidance, forecasts, and warnings.
>
>
> Why doesn't this protect our access?

Because of the "mode of issuance" section which follows that. It states that the
data is to be provided to commercial companies, not directly to us.

George Patterson
There's plenty of room for all of God's creatures. Right next to the
mashed potatoes.

[Ron Natalie]

George Patterson wrote:
> Dylan Smith wrote:
>
>>
>> Essentially, Accuweather has paid Sen. Rick Santorum to put this bill
>> through the Senate, to force the NWS/NOAA to take a great amount of its
>> freely available weather offline.
>
>
> I spent a fair amount of time last night trying to locate a copy of the
> bill. Couldn't even locate the bill number. If the language used in the
> article you referenced is correct, however, the NWS would not be able to
> provide info to Accuweather either. A lot of the NWS could effectively
> be disbanded; it wouldn't have to do anything that a private company
> also does.
>
I typed "weather" into THOMAS and the second bill that comes up is S.
786 The National Weather Services Duties Act of 2005.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c109:2:./temp/~c109Wg00yZ::

[Larry Dighera]

On Sat, 23 Apr 2005 20:09:42 GMT, Nathan Young
> wrote in
>::

>http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:s786:


Many thanks for that link. Here's the bill in PDF format:
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=109_cong_bills&docid=f:s786is.txt.pdf

And here's the (rather poorly formatted) text:



II

(Star Print)
109TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION S. 786
To clarify the duties and responsibilities of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric
Administration and the National Weather Service, and for other
purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
APRIL 14, 2005
Mr. SANTORUM introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
A BILL
To clarify the duties and responsibilities of the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National
Weather Service, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Weather 4
Services Duties Act of 2005’’. 5
2
•S 786 IS1S
SEC. 2. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF NATIONAL OCE- 1
ANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION 2
AND NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. 3
(a) NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.—To protect life 4
and property, the Secretary of Commerce shall, through 5
the National Weather Service, be responsible for the fol- 6
lowing: 7
(1) The preparation and issuance of severe 8
weather forecasts and warnings designed for the 9
protection of life and property of the general public. 10
(2) The preparation and issuance of 11
hydrometeorological guidance and core forecast in- 12
formation. 13
(3) The collection and exchange of meteorolog- 14
ical, hydrological, climatic, and oceanographic data 15
and information. 16
(4) The provision of reports, forecasts, warn- 17
ings, and other advice to the Secretary of Transpor- 18
tation and other persons pursuant to section 44720 19
of title 49, United States Code. 20
(5) Such other duties and responsibilities as the 21
Secretary shall specify. 22
(b) COMPETITION WITH PRIVATE SECTOR.—The 23
Secretary of Commerce shall not provide, or assist other 24
entities in providing, a product or service (other than a 25
3
•S 786 IS1S
product or service described in subsection (a)(1)) that is 1
or could be provided by the private sector unless— 2
(1) the Secretary determines that the private 3
sector is unwilling or unable to provide such product 4
or service; or 5
(2) the United States Government is obligated 6
to provide such product or service under inter- 7
national aviation agreements to provide meteorolog- 8
ical services and exchange meteorological informa- 9
tion. 10
(c) ISSUANCE OF DATA, FORECASTS, AND WARN- 11
INGS.— 12
(1) IN GENERAL.—All data, information, guid- 13
ance, forecasts, and warnings received, collected, cre- 14
ated, or prepared by the National Oceanic and At- 15
mospheric Administration or the National Weather 16
Service shall, to the maximum extent practicable, be 17
issued in real time, and without delay for internal 18
use, in a manner that ensures that all members of 19
the public have the opportunity for simultaneous and 20
equal access to such data, information, guidance, 21
forecasts, and warnings. 22
(2) MODE OF ISSUANCE.—Data, information, 23
guidance, forecasts, and warnings shall be issued 24
under paragraph (1) through a set of data portals 25
4
•S 786 IS1S
designed for volume access by commercial providers 1
of products or services and by such other mecha- 2
nisms as the Secretary of Commerce considers ap- 3
propriate for purposes of that paragraph. 4
(d) PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN DISCLOSURES.—An 5
officer, employee, or agent of the National Oceanic and 6
Atmospheric Administration, the National Weather Serv- 7
ice, or any other department or agency of the United 8
States who by reason of that status comes into possession 9
of any weather data, information, guidance, forecast, or 10
warning that might influence or affect the market value 11
of any product, service, commodity, tradable, or business 12
may not— 13
(1) willfully impart, whether directly or indi- 14
rectly, such weather data, information, guidance, 15
forecast, or warning, or any part thereof, before the 16
issuance of such weather data, information, guid- 17
ance, forecast, or warning to the public under sub- 18
section (c); or 19
(2) after the issuance of such weather data, in- 20
formation, guidance, forecast, or warning to the 21
public under subsection (c), willfully impart com- 22
ments or qualifications on such weather data, infor- 23
mation, guidance, forecast, or warning, or any part 24
5
•S 786 IS1S
thereof, to the public, except pursuant to an 1
issuance that complies with that subsection. 2
(e) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 90 days after the 3
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Com- 4
merce shall prescribe regulations to implement the provi- 5
sions of this section. 6
(f) PRODUCT OR SERVICE DEFINED.—In this sec- 7
tion, the term ‘‘product or service’’ means a product, serv- 8
ice, device, or system that provides, senses, or commu- 9
nicates meteorological, hydrological, climatic, solar, or 10
oceanographic data, forecasts, or other similar informa- 11
tion. 12
(g) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The provisions of this sec- 13
tion (other than subsection (e)) shall take effect 90 days 14
after the date of the enactment of this Act. 15
(h) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The Act of Octo- 16
ber 1, 1890 (26 Stat. 653) is amended as follows: 17
(1) Section 3 (15 U.S.C. 313) is repealed. 18
(2) Section 9 (15 U.S.C. 317) is amended by 19
striking ‘‘, and it shall be’’ and all that follows and 20
inserting a period. 21
6
•S 786 IS1S
SEC. 3. REPORT ON MODIFICATION OF NATIONAL OCEANIC 1
AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION AND 2
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ACTIVITIES. 3
(a) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the date 4
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce 5
shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress 6
a report that sets forth— 7
(1) a detailed statement of the activities, if any, 8
of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis- 9
tration and the National Weather Service that are 10
inconsistent with the provisions of section 2; 11
(2) a schedule for the modification of the activi- 12
ties referred to in paragraph (1) in order to conform 13
such activities to the provisions of section 2; and 14
(3) the regulations prescribed under section 15
2(e). 16
(b) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS DE- 17
FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate commit- 18
tees of Congress’’ means— 19
(1) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 20
Transportation of the Senate; and 21
(2) the Committee on Science of the House of 22
Representatives. 23
Æ

[Larry Dighera]

On Sat, 23 Apr 2005 20:35:32 GMT, George Patterson
> wrote in <okyae.1288$u56.2@trndny09>::

>
>In other words, the NWS is required to provide everything to commercial
>companies as rapidly as possible, and we have to buy it from them. Clear as can be.


The bill seems to contain an exception for "section 44720 of title 49,
United States Code":


SEC. 2. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF NATIONAL OCEANIC AND
ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION AND NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

(a) NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE- To protect life and property, the
Secretary of Commerce shall, through the National Weather Service,
be responsible for the following:

(4) The provision of reports, forecasts, warnings, and other
advice to the Secretary of Transportation and other persons
pursuant to section 44720 of title 49, United States Code.


Section 44720 of title 49, United States Code is available here:
http://straylight.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode49/usc_sec_49_00044720----000-.html


TITLE 49 > SUBTITLE VII > PART A > subpart iii > CHAPTER 447 > §
44720

§ 44720. Meteorological services


Release date: 2003-08-01

(a) Recommendations.— The Administrator of the Federal Aviation
Administration shall make recommendations to the Secretary of Commerce
on providing meteorological services necessary for the safe and
efficient movement of aircraft in air commerce. In providing the
services, the Secretary shall cooperate with the Administrator and
give complete consideration to those recommendations.
(b) Promoting Safety and Efficiency.— To promote safety and
efficiency in air navigation to the highest possible degree, the
Secretary shall—
(1) observe, measure, investigate, and study atmospheric
phenomena, and maintain meteorological stations and offices, that are
necessary or best suited for finding out in advance information about
probable weather conditions;
(2) provide reports to the Administrator to persons engaged in
civil aeronautics that are designated by the Administrator and to
other persons designated by the Secretary in a way and with a
frequency that best will result in safety in, and facilitating, air
navigation;
(3) cooperate with persons engaged in air commerce in
meteorological services, maintain reciprocal arrangements with those
persons in carrying out this clause, and collect and distribute
weather reports available from aircraft in flight;
(4) maintain and coordinate international exchanges of
meteorological information required for the safety and efficiency of
air navigation;
(5) in cooperation with other departments, agencies, and
instrumentalities of the United States Government, meteorological
services of foreign countries, and persons engaged in air commerce,
participate in developing an international basic meteorological
reporting network, including the establishment, operation, and
maintenance of reporting stations on the high seas, in polar regions,
and in foreign countries;
(6) coordinate meteorological requirements in the United States to
maintain standard observations, to promote efficient use of
facilities, and to avoid duplication of services unless the
duplication tends to promote the safety and efficiency of air
navigation; and
(7) promote and develop meteorological science and foster and
support research projects in meteorology through the use of private
and governmental research facilities and provide for publishing the
results of the projects unless publication would not be in the public
interest.

[George Patterson]

Larry Dighera wrote:
>
> The bill seems to contain an exception for "section 44720 of title 49,
> United States Code":

In other words, we will still be able to use DUATS.

George Patterson
There's plenty of room for all of God's creatures. Right next to the
mashed potatoes.

[Toño]

Dylan Smith wrote:
> You might want to write to Rick Santorum and tell him why this is such a
> bad idea:
>

He doesn't care. This just a case of a clever politician introducing a
bill that will score him voter points later no matter the outcome.

I mean, if the bill passes he can say, "Look, I got legislation passed
to increase public safety and favor business interest in the private
sector."

On the other hand, if the bill is shut down he can say, "Hey, I voted
for business interest in the private sector and my opponents voted
against it."

It's a win-win scenario for the guy and the more publicity mileage he
gets out of it the more likely it is for him to be re-elected.


Antonio

[Larry Dighera]

On Sun, 24 Apr 2005 04:59:04 GMT, George Patterson
> wrote in <sIFae.142$pc7.104@trndny05>::

>Larry Dighera wrote:
>>
>> The bill seems to contain an exception for "section 44720 of title 49,
>> United States Code":
>
>In other words, we will still be able to use DUATS.
>

That is a rather restrictive interpretation of the exemption. I would
hope the NWS would continue to provide access to:

Aviation Weather Center <http://aviationweather.gov/>

The 7-day zone forecast
<http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/lox/getprod.php?pil=zfp&sid=lox&format=pre>.

Observation history
<http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/mesonet/getobext.php?sid=KSBA&num=48&banner=off>


I use these a lot before deciding to use DUATS.

The whole bill is an audacious boondoggle. I've written both my
senators.

[Andrew Gideon]

Toño wrote:

> It's a win-win scenario for the guy and the more publicity mileage he
> gets out of it the more likely it is for him to be re-elected.

Unless the publicity points out that he's trying to *decrease* public safety
for the benefit of certain very specific commercial interests. If it can
then be shown that they've contributed to his campaign...

In that case, he'll have to claim that God wants him in office. That has a
history of working lately in the US.

- Andrew

[George Patterson]

Andrew Gideon wrote:
>
> Unless the publicity points out that he's trying to *decrease* public safety
> for the benefit of certain very specific commercial interests. If it can
> then be shown that they've contributed to his campaign...

Oh, it can be shown. One web site that I hit the other night when looking for
the text of the bill contains a list of each contribution Accuweather made to
him. Mostly small amounts, but they total over $3,000.

George Patterson
There's plenty of room for all of God's creatures. Right next to the
mashed potatoes.

[OtisWinslow]

"Mortimer Schnerd, RN" > wrote in message
. com...
> Matt" < wrote:
>
> Have any of you gone to the trouble of writing? This should be important
> to all of us.
>


My senator has a notice right on his web site that regular mail can have
quite a delay
these days and email or fax will be faster.

[Matt Barrow]

"OtisWinslow" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Mortimer Schnerd, RN" > wrote in
message
> . com...
> > Matt" < wrote:
> >
> > Have any of you gone to the trouble of writing? This should be
important
> > to all of us.
> >
>
>
> My senator has a notice right on his web site that regular mail can have
> quite a delay
> these days and email or fax will be faster.
>
Mine, too and both Allard and Campbell will follow-up an email with a snail
mail response.

--
Matt
---------------------
Matthew W. Barrow
Site-Fill Homes, LLC.
Montrose, CO

[Guy Elden Jr]

This is a pretty important topic, and I found some more information
about it at Weather Underground today...

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=3&tstamp=200504

They've got a petition going as well, though that might not be as
effective as e-mail or snail mail. Still, if you do nothing else, at
least give the petition a few seconds of time...

http://www.ipetitions.com/campaigns/SaveTheNWS

--
Guy Elden Jr.

[Larry Dighera]

On Sun, 24 Apr 2005 23:21:51 GMT, George Patterson
> wrote in <jSVae.910$oD6.243@trndny07>::

>Andrew Gideon wrote:
>>
>> Unless the publicity points out that he's trying to *decrease* public safety
>> for the benefit of certain very specific commercial interests. If it can
>> then be shown that they've contributed to his campaign...
>
>Oh, it can be shown. One web site that I hit the other night when looking for
>the text of the bill contains a list of each contribution Accuweather made to
>him. Mostly small amounts, but they total over $3,000.
>


Here's a quote:

http://www.livejournal.com/users/rjwhite/
"It is not an easy prospect for a business to attract advertisers,
subscribers or investors when the government is providing similar
products and services for free," Santorum said.




Here's a little more information on the topic:


-------------------------------------------------------------------
AVflash Volume 11, Number 17a -- April 25, 2005

-------------------------------------------------------------------

FREE WX UNDER THREAT...
The National Weather Service (NWS) would be restricted from
offering any products to the public that are or could be provide
by the commercial weather industry, under legislation introduced
in the U.S. Senate recently by Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.). The
"National Weather Services Duties Act of 2005" would "modernize
the description of the National Weather Service's roles within the
national weather enterprise," Santorum said, and essentially it
would yank the popular NWS Web site off the Internet. The bill
already has attracted opposition among those who value NWS
products.
http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archives/avflash/391-full.html#189634

...AS PROVIDERS SEEK PAYMENT FOR SERVICE
The effort seems to be driven by the NWS's recently revamped Web
site, which makes weather data more easily available. AccuWeather,
a private weather provider based in Pennsylvania, has been
critical of the NWS and supportive of the bill to change it.
AccuWeather spokesman Barry Myers told the Post the bill would
improve public safety by making the weather service devote its
efforts to hurricanes, tsunamis and other dangers, rather than
duplicating products already available from the private sector.
But NWS spokesman Ed Johnson said it doesn't work that way.
http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archives/avflash/391-full.html#189635


This article seems to give Barry Myers a soapbox:


http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,65919,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_1
The commercial weather providers make more than $1 billion in
revenue each year from sales to media, transportation companies,
farmers and financial traders, according to Barry Myers,
AccuWeather's executive vice president.


Here is an account of attorney Barry Myers' political contributions:

http://www.newsmeat.com/fec/bystate_detail.php?st=PA&last=Myers&first=Barry

Here is an account of AccuWeather's President Joel Myers' political
contributions:

http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/ind_detail/MYERS|JOEL+N+DR|STATE+COLLEGE|PA|16801|ACCU+WEATHE R/


Another story on the subject:

http://www.rawstory.com/exclusives/byrne/santorum_weather_ban_accuweather_421.htm
BAD WEATHER?
Senator aiming to nix federal weather forecasts enjoyed
AccuWeather money
Some worry that bill is bad idea in wake of hurricanes

By John Byrne | RAW STORY Editor

A conservative Republican senator who proposed that federal
meteorologists be forbidden from competing with companies such as
AccuWeather and the Weather Channel, has received nearly $4,000
from AccuWeather's founder and executive vice president since
2000, RAW STORY has discovered.

Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) introduced the bill last week. The
senator's supporters (among them the founder and executive vice
president of AccuWeather) note the bill provides an exemption that
would allow organizations the National Hurricane Center from
alerting the public to hazards.

"The National Weather Service has not focused on what its core
mission should be, which is protecting other people's lives and
property," said Barry Myers, the Executive Vice President of
AccuWeather told the Palm Beach Post Thursday. "It spends hundreds
of millions of dollars a year, every day, producing forecasts of
'warm and sunny.'"

Myers gave $1,000 to Santorum in the last election cycle. Santorum
was the only senator Myers financially supported.

AccuWeather's 15,000 clients include Post, which utilizes the
firm's hurricane forecast maps on PalmBeachPost.com. The Post
failed to include mention of Myers contributions.

Myers' brother, Joel, founder, CEO and president of AccuWeather,
has also given generously to Santorum over the years—more than
$2,000 in the last election cycle alone.

A spokesman for Florida's Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson was taken
aback by Santorum's bill, questioning the intelligence of a bill
that the senator believes might be dangerous in the wake of
several hurricanes.

"The weather service proved so instrumental and popular and
helpful in the wake of the hurricanes," Nelson spokesman Dan
McLaughlin told the Post. "How can you make an argument that we
should pull it off the Net now? What are you going to do, charge
hurricane victims to go online, or give them a pop-up ad?"

In a release Apr. 14, Santorum said the bill was sorely needed.

“With the support of my colleagues, we can pass this legislation
to modernize the description of the National Weather Service’s
roles within the national weather enterprise, so that it reflects
today’s reality in which the National Weather Service and the
commercial weather industry both play important parts in providing
weather products and services to the nation,” Santorum said.



AccuWeather's President compares himself to Edison, Ford, Disney,
Turner, Trump, and Gates:


http://wwwa.accuweather.com/company.asp?partner=accuweather&myadc=0&traveler=0&page=about#president
President
Dr. Joel N. Myers
Founder, CEO and President of AccuWeather, Inc.
Dr. Joel N. Myers is the man who transformed weather into an
industry.

As a graduate student of meteorology at Penn State University in
1962, Myers accepted his first consulting assignment to provide
weather forecasting information to a Pennsylvania utility company.
Thus began the fulfillment of a dream he had held since he was 11
years old, to help industry and consumers by providing weather
forecasts and information of value, with his own weather company.

Since that time, Dr. Myers has gone on to build the world’s
best-known commercial weather service. Today, AccuWeather and
AccuWeather.com are the most respected names in weather
forecasting, a brand recognized by nearly every American. The
company, which employs 400 professionals including 100 operational
meteorologists (probably the most in one location, anywhere in the
world), provides customized weather forecasting services to 15,000
clients worldwide, including international media, more than 180 of
the Fortune 500, government agencies and private subscribers.


A lifetime student and instructor of meteorology, Dr. Myers’
accomplishments include:
Reworking the arcane science of meteorology in order to educate
mass audiences to the forces of weather and how they impact
everyday life.
Advancing the very science of weather forecasting to provide media
outlets and businesses worldwide with the most exact and timely
weather forecasts available for them to use as a competitive
advantage in their marketplace.
Establishing weather information as a key content component in
both traditional broadcasting and on the Internet. Prior to
AccuWeather, weather was reported as an afterthought. Today,
weather is often the news--due in part to Dr. Myers’ vision and
forethought.
Training an estimated 17% of all practicing meteorologists in the
United States as of his retirement from teaching at Penn State.
Pioneering ready-for-air color weather graphics for television
stations and print-ready weather pages for newspapers. Today, more
than 1000 individual television and radio stations and newspapers,
plus leading news organizations like CNN, CNBC and MSNBC use
AccuWeather as their weather source.
Dr. Myers continues to innovate. The patent-pending Real Feel
Temperature™, developed by Dr. Myers and other AccuWeather
experts, as the only true indicator of how temperatures feel, is
replacing the less accurate wind chill factor and heat index as
the predominate means of how consumers understand the effect of
temperatures.

Over the past five years, Dr. Myers has established AccuWeather as
the premier supplier of online weather information.
AccuWeather.com receives about 4.5 million unique visitors,
accessing 60 million pages each month. When these viewers are
combined with the more than 1,200 other Internet sites that
provide AccuWeather content, an estimated 70 million unique users
view more than 700 million AccuWeather pages each month.

Dr. Myers has authored more than 75 articles and papers on a wide
range of technical and business subjects and has given hundreds of
speeches and presentations. He has appeared On the ABC Nightly
News, To Tell the Truth, Larry King Live and has been quoted in
Time, Newsweek, U.S. News and World Report, National Geographic,
The Economist, USA Today, Reader’s Digest, Forbes, Internet World
and in more than 500 magazines and newspapers. As a weather
broadcaster for 18 years, he has been seen on major media
nationwide and is generally considered the nation’s most respected
source on the business of meteorology and how it affects industry
and consumers. He was dubbed "the most accurate man in weather" by
the New York Times.

Dr. Myers was recognized by Entrepreneur Magazine’s Encyclopedia
of Entrepreneurs as one of the 520 greatest entrepreneurs in
American history, along with historical figures such as Thomas
Alva Edison, Henry Ford and Walt Disney and contemporaries Bill
Gates, Ted Turner and Donald Trump. He is one of only 40 thus
honored born after the start of World War II. Dr. Myers is also a
member of the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcaster’s Hall of
Fame.

Dr. Myers was called upon several times by the U.S. Congress to
testify as an expert on weather forecasts and information and on
the respective roles of the government and private sector weather
services. He was also an invited speaker by the U.S. National
Weather Service to present his view of the future of weather in
their Visions of Future Weather Service seminar series, and by the
American Meteorological Society in their 2001 Summer Colloquium.

Dr. Myers continues his lifelong interest in education as a
trustee of The Pennsylvania State University, a post which he has
held for the past 21, having been elected by alumni for eight
3-year terms. He is also a member of Pennsylvania Governor
Schweiker’s Team Pennsylvania. He works from AccuWeather’s Global
Headquarters in State College, PA.


History
Over the last 39 years, AccuWeather has grown from one man's dream
to become the world's largest commercial weather service. Today,
AccuWeather serves more than 15,000 clients worldwide with weather
forecasts, data, color graphics, consulting services, computer
hardware and software. AccuWeather serves clients in the media,
government, industry and education. More than 180 million
Americans recognize the AccuWeather name as the leader in weather
forecasts and information.

On November 15, 1962 Joel N. Myers, then a Penn State graduate
student, began forecasting the weather for a gas utility company
in Pennsylvania. Joel not only had a firm grasp of weather
patterns, but he also had insight into the impact of the weather
on businesses and people.

As Joel worked on his M.S. and then Ph.D. in Meteorology from The
Pennsylvania State University, AccuWeather's client base grew to
include other businesses and government agencies. In 1971,
AccuWeather began services to radio and television stations. Five
of the first seven broadcast stations served by AccuWeather in the
early '70s are still clients today. AccuWeather now serves
hundreds of television and radio stations all across the United
States plus stations from Canada to Chile, from Africa to
Australia, and from Moscow to Manilla.

During the early days of AccuWeather, Dr. Myers not only forecast
and ran the new company, but remained an active member of the Penn
State faculty. At the time of his retirement from teaching at Penn
State, it was estimated that Dr. Myers had taught basic
forecasting skills to 17% of all of the country's practicing
meteorologists. During Dr. Myers' teaching at Penn State and work
at AccuWeather he conducted numerous studies to help develop
forecasting techniques which increase forecast accuracy. The
AccuWeather approach to forecasting has helped make AccuWeather
the most accurate and most recognized name among commercial
weather forecasting services.

Joel and AccuWeather share a commitment to excellence in
education. Joel has served as a member of the Penn State Board of
Trustees since 1981, and each year AccuWeather awards several
scholarships to Penn State meteorology students and State College
High School seniors. In addition, AccuWeather is a sponsor of the
National Collegiate Weather Forecasting Contest.

AccuWeather's pioneering developments have extended well beyond
the creation and dissemination of weather forecasts. AccuWeather
has also led the way in utilizing and developing new technologies.
In 1979, AccuWeather began to develop a state-of-the-art
meteorological database. AccuWeather also developed an educational
program, On-Line with AccuWeather, utilizing teachers' guides,
educational modules and student worksheets, which has been
recognized with four awards as one of the top educational
products. In 1983, AccuWeather began to make color weather
graphics available, and these are now utilized by MSNBC, CNBC, CNN
and more than 200 individual television stations. AccuWeather has
also supplied graphics computer systems to more than 100
television stations. As technology advanced, AccuWeather was in
the forefront and in 1994 AccuWeather began providing free
Internet weather at AccuWeather.com, which has become one of the
Web's leading weather sites. AccuWeather is the world leader in
Internet weather, providing weather data, forecasts, and graphics
to over 6000 sites including five of the six top TV news sites,
and three of the four top cable news sites.

AccuWeather pioneered advances in newspaper weather, providing
newspapers with complete, camera-ready, black and white or color
custom weather pages. With our latest technology, transmitting
complete weather pages directly to a newspaper's pre-press system,
AccuWeather today provides weather pages to more than 750
newspapers in the United States and around the world and, in
addition, prepares all of the weather maps for The Associated
Press.

Other AccuWeather innovations include an automated, state-of-
the-art fax service called AccuWeather Fax (tm) , and a warning
service, FirstWarn (tm) , that automatically generates a crawl
over a television station's broadcast signal to notify the public
the instant an official warning is issued.

Over the past 39 years, AccuWeather has grown from the dream of
one person to one of the nation's best-known and most respected
companies. AccuWeather today employs over 400 people, including
100 meteorologists, the largest staff of operational forecasters
at one location anyplace in the world. It is conservatively
estimated that the AccuWeather forecasts have, over the years,
saved more than 100 lives and more than $30 million in property.

AccuWeather is proud of its continued growth over the past 39
years. Each year, AccuWeather has grown in number of employees and
clients served and total revenue.

AccuWeather is an assembly of the best meteorologists, computer,
graphics, technical and support personnel available. The
AccuWeather staff takes pride in the company's success, and in the
positive impact AccuWeather has had in people's lives.

Return to top

Headquarters
AccuWeather's operation is housed in its Global Headquarters, a
52,000 square foot facility built on 6.5 acres of land near State
College, PA.
AccuWeather spent several years designing its headquarters,
incorporating many features that enable us to serve our clients
even better than ever. Some of the highlights include redundant
computer facilities, on-site UPS and power generation, 23 radio
booths and a TV studio.

The dramatic operations room is larger than two basketball courts,
and with a 21-foot high ceiling, it enables AccuWeather
meteorologists, graphic artists, editors and operational support
staff to interact together as integrated teams.

The headquarters' state-of-the-art design and equipment enables
AccuWeather to provide the most reliable and accurate weather
information well into the new millennium.

AccuWeather Strategy
To create and grow a portfolio of profitable lines of weather and
selected other businesses using techniques proven throughout our
decades of success:

Recognize customer needs, and exceed their expectations.

Study our own product set and the marketplace and deliver
solutions that improve on the best.

Maintain flexibility in product features and pricing to provide
maximum value to customers.

Develop customer solutions and relationships that deliver
recurring revenue and profit.

Enhance AccuWeather's brand strengths.

Seek significant new opportunities in accessible markets.

Leverage alliances and acquisitions to gain new customers, markets
and technology.

Work with the Commercial Weather Industry and government to
achieve our mission.

Employ our proprietary intellectual property to maximum advantage.

Be innovative and diligent in maximizing our efficiency and
cost-effectiveness.

Follow established processes and strategies while working in an
orderly way to improve them.



Finally, telling it like it is:


http://www.cagw.org/site/PageServer?pagename=news_porkerofthemonth_Dec04
...
As for Punxsutawney Phil, the last thing Washington needs is
another rodent. He seemed to be happy burrowing holes in the
ground; but now he is burrowing holes in taxpayers’ wallets. On
the real Groundhog Day, instead of waking up and seeing his
shadow, he will see 10 more years of deficits. Unfortunately,
taxpayers will not be able to hibernate through the coming crisis
in entitlement spending, sure to be made worse by Congress’s
addiction to pork spending.

Democracy has reached a new low with the spectacle of rodents
defending congressional earmarks, but the participation of
AccuWeather CEO Barry Myers in this afternoon’s press conference
presents another oddity, and some hypocrisy. Myers claims that
the National Weather Service duplicates work done by the private
sector a position taxpayers would appreciate. But AccuWeather is
the nation’s largest private forecasting operation, part of a $1
billion industry. If Myers thinks the Punxsutawney Weather Center
is so great, he could cough up more of his own money for the
project, instead of reaching for tax dollars confiscated from
other peoples’ paychecks.

Despite Peterson’s, Myers’, and Phil’s best efforts to make the
Punxsutawney Weather Center out to be the Greatest Thing Ever, its
mission is no different than hundreds of museums throughout the
country that manage to succeed without federal funding.
Pork-barrel projects rarely, if ever, uplift economically
struggling communities. There are hundreds of poor communities
throughout the U.S. that should not be taxed to turn Punxsutawney,
Pennsylvania into the “Weather Capital of the World,” simply
because its congressman was able to curry favor with the right
committee. While December 7 will always be “a day that will live
in infamy,” this year it also represents the depths to which
members of Congress will sink to protect their pork. For
defending questionable priorities in a time of war, record
deficits, and debt; circumventing the budget process; and grabbing
$100,000 in federal funding for a pet project, CAGW names Rep.
John Peterson and Punxsutawney Phil the December Co-Porkers of the
Month.

Citizens Against Government Waste is the nation's largest
nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating
waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.

[Andrew Gideon]

George Patterson wrote:

> hit the other night when looking for
> the text of the bill contains a list of each contribution Accuweather made
> to him. Mostly small amounts, but they total over $3,000.

Have you still the URL?

- Andrew

[Andrew Gideon]

Andrew Gideon wrote:

> George Patterson wrote:
>
>> hit the other night when looking for
>> the text of the bill contains a list of each contribution Accuweather
>> made to him. Mostly small amounts, but they total over $3,000.
>
> Have you still the URL?

Never mind...someone else posted some good ones.

- Andrew

[Larry Dighera]

On Thu, 28 Apr 2005 16:29:14 GMT, Larry Dighera >
wrote in >::

>Here's a quote:
>
> http://www.livejournal.com/users/rjwhite/
> "It is not an easy prospect for a business to attract advertisers,
> subscribers or investors when the government is providing similar
> products and services for free," Santorum said.


Here's the response to my e-mail inquiry I received from one of my
senators:

From:
Subject: Responding to your message
Date: Tue, 17 May 2005 20:10:47 -0400
Message-ID: >




May 17, 2005


Dear Mr. Dighera:

Thank you for contacting me regarding
S.786, the National Weather Service Duties Act of
2005. I appreciate the opportunity to respond to
your views, and I share your concerns about this
bill.


S.786 seeks to severely restrict the
functions of the National Weather Service (NWS),
which is run by the federal National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration. The NWS currently
offers a wide range of free weather services for
all Americans, including invaluable information
for airplane pilots, farmers, and those seeking
details about severe weather in their areas.
This bill would prevent the NWS from offering
these free weather services to the public.
Instead, private weather companies, which rely
primarily on the same data used by the NWS, would
charge Americans for their services.


The NWS provides a reliable and effective
public service that is utilized by over six
million Americans each day. S.786 eliminates
this valuable service and unfairly penalizes
people by requiring them to pay for information
that should be available free of charge. This
bill is currently in the Senate Commerce
Committee, of which I am a member. Rest assured
that I am not in favor of this bill and that I
will work with my colleagues to prevent this bill
from reaching the full Senate floor.


Again, thank you for writing to me. Please
do not hesitate to contact me again about this or
any other issue of concern to you.




Sincerely,


Barbara Boxer
United States Senator

================================================
Please do not reply to this e-mail. This is not an active e-mail
address.

If you wish to comment further on this issue or an any other
issue and want to ensure an answer--please complete the form at
http://boxer.senate.gov/contact/webform.cfm

[Larry Dighera]

On Wed, 18 May 2005 00:55:13 GMT, Larry Dighera >
wrote in >::

>On Thu, 28 Apr 2005 16:29:14 GMT, Larry Dighera >
>wrote in >::
>
>>Here's a quote:
>>
>> http://www.livejournal.com/users/rjwhite/
>> "It is not an easy prospect for a business to attract advertisers,
>> subscribers or investors when the government is providing similar
>> products and services for free," Santorum said.
>
>
>Here's the response to my e-mail inquiry I received from one of my
>senators:
>
> From:
> Subject: Responding to your message
> Date: Tue, 17 May 2005 20:10:47 -0400
> Message-ID: >
>
>
>
>
> May 17, 2005
>
>
> Dear Mr. Dighera:
>
> Thank you for contacting me regarding
> S.786, the National Weather Service Duties Act of
> 2005. I appreciate the opportunity to respond to
> your views, and I share your concerns about this
> bill.
>
>
> S.786 seeks to severely restrict the
> functions of the National Weather Service (NWS),
> which is run by the federal National Oceanic and
> Atmospheric Administration. The NWS currently
> offers a wide range of free weather services for
> all Americans, including invaluable information
> for airplane pilots, farmers, and those seeking
> details about severe weather in their areas.
> This bill would prevent the NWS from offering
> these free weather services to the public.
> Instead, private weather companies, which rely
> primarily on the same data used by the NWS, would
> charge Americans for their services.
>
>
> The NWS provides a reliable and effective
> public service that is utilized by over six
> million Americans each day. S.786 eliminates
> this valuable service and unfairly penalizes
> people by requiring them to pay for information
> that should be available free of charge. This
> bill is currently in the Senate Commerce
> Committee, of which I am a member. Rest assured
> that I am not in favor of this bill and that I
> will work with my colleagues to prevent this bill
> from reaching the full Senate floor.
>
>
> Again, thank you for writing to me. Please
> do not hesitate to contact me again about this or
> any other issue of concern to you.
>
>
>
>
> Sincerely,
>
>
> Barbara Boxer
> United States Senator
>
> ================================================
> Please do not reply to this e-mail. This is not an active e-mail
> address.
>
> If you wish to comment further on this issue or an any other
> issue and want to ensure an answer--please complete the form at
> http://boxer.senate.gov/contact/webform.cfm

Today, I received a nice letter from my other senator thanking me for
contacting her to share my opposition to the National Weather Service
Duties Act.

She says the legislation has been referred to the Senate Committee on
Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and should it come to the
Senate floor, she will keep my comments in mind.