ICYMI: CNN ‘Amo Wants Answers about Weather Service Cuts after Deadly Texas Floods’

• "I want to extend my condolences to the families of the victims, to the survivors, and gratitude to all the first responders."
• “We've seen at the National Weather Service severe, 15% cuts to personnel having a really big impact.”
• “These are career people, scientists, meteorologists, folks who have the capacity to predict, prepare for, and respond to these situations.”
• “I want answers.”
• “I'm demanding that Commerce Secretary Lutnick show up in front of the Science Committee and give us a robust explanation about what happened here.”

Background:

On July 4, after heavy rain in the Texas Hill Country, the Guadalupe and other rivers breached their banks causing catastrophic flooding leaving more than 120 dead. 

Ranking Member Amo and Ranking Member Stanton alongside Science, Space, and Technology Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) and Transportation and Infrastructure Ranking Member Rick Larsen (D-WA) sent a letter to the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) seeking answers on federal activity in preparation for and in response to the tragic floods. 

Amo, Ranking Member Lofgren, and Science, Space, and Technology Oversight Subcommittee Ranking Member Emilia Sykes (D-OH) also sent a letter calling on Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick to testify before the Committee about the staffing shortages at the National Weather Service and their potential impact on the Texas flash floods. 

Amo also joined Homeland Security Subcommittee onEmergency Management and Technology Ranking Member Timothy Kennedy (D-NY) in calling for answers from Acting FEMA Administrator David Richardson and Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for NOAA Laura Grimm about the status of FEMA and the National Weather Service’s preparedness for and response to the disastrous flooding in Texas.

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