Statement on National Road Weather Research and Development Program

Amendment to H.R. 3551

February 4, 2004

My amendment would simply create a Federal road weather research program within the Department of Transportation. The idea for this program came from a report by the National Research Council, which was sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration. The program would bring together the weather and transportation research communities to maximize use of available weather information and technologies, especially to improve safety and efficiency. The amendment calls for the program to be funded at $5 million each year, which would come from the existing major research account for highway research. I want to thank the Mr. Ehlers and Mr. Boehlert for supporting my amendment and I yield back my time.