[aprssig] National Weather Services Duties Act (S. 786 )

[stanzepa at sbcglobal.net]

Senator Santorum's web page has the following article: Fact vs. Fiction: S.
786, Strengthening the Core Mission of the National Weather Service. The
URL is:
http://santorum.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressOffice.View&Cont
entRecord_id=1304&CFID=19874078&CFTOKEN=61769882

Personally, I don't trust the Gang of Privateers in D.C. as far as I can
throw them, but here is their side of the story. The following from the
aforementioned article seems very pertinent to our discussion:

"MYTH: This bill will prevent the general public from getting access to
weather information. The bill could also undo years of advances in
communication and push the weather service back to a "pre-Internet era" and
force NWS to shut down its website. 

"Reality: The NWS under this bill is required – not allowed, but required –
to collect and exchange meteorological, hydrological, climatic, and
oceanographic data and information. The only new caveat is that this
information must be provided to ALL taxpayers, not select ones. NWS would
have to make its information available “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.” NWS can, and should,
continue to maintain its website and distribute information that is freely
accessible to all interested parties. The only ones that won’t have the
same “access” are those who benefited from insider information and secret
briefings based on information that was NOT available to the public."



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