[HCDX] URGENT - Contact your representative

[Tomas (NW7US) <nw7us@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

>From the CQ Newsroom:

NOAA "Space Weather" Service Threatened

The service on which many amateurs depend for reports on ionospheric conditions  
may have its funding sharply cut or eliminated under two versions of a  
Congressional spending plan for Fiscal Year 2004. The Space Environment Center,  
part of the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric  
Administration (NOAA), provides "space weather" reports on solar and geomagnetic  
activity that affect the ionosphere, which in turn affects radio propagation. In  
addition, solar flares and similar events can damage satellites, so advance  
knowledge can help protect them. Propagation predictions in CQ and other  
publications depend on these space weather observations.

The Space Environment Center is actually operated jointly by NOAA and the Air  
Force, but its funding is in the NOAA budget. The SEC suffered a 40% budget cut  
in the current fiscal year, and the House budget proposal for 2004 calls for an  
additional 40% cut. The Senate version of the bill cuts funding for the SEC  
altogether, along with the somewhat cynical comment in an accompanying report  
that "the 'Atmospheric' in NOAA does not extend to the astral. Absolutely no  
funds are provided for solar observation. Such activities are rightly the  
bailiwick of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Air  
Force."

We understand from SEC staff that the House Science Committee's Environment,  
Technology and Standards Subcommittee will be holding a hearing next week  
(October 30) on the funding bill, and that letters and comments from the public  
will be entered into the record. If you are concerned about the possible loss of  
information gathered and disseminated by the SEC, you may write to the House  
Committee On Science, Environment, Technology and Standards Subcommittee, 2320  
Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515. You should direct your  
comments to the Chairman, Rep. Vernon Ehlers (R-MI), ask that they be included  
in the record of the Oct. 30 hearing, and explain in NON-TECHNICAL terms how you  
benefit from the "space weather" services provided by the SEC, and how you would  
be adversely affected if those services were further reduced or eliminated.

A full list of the members of the Environment, Technology and Standards  
Subcommittee is below. If the list includes your Representative, and you are  
inclined to write, you might also send a letter or comment directly to your  
Representative.

House Committee on Science
Subcommittee on Environment, Technology, and Standards

Republican Members
Vernon J. Ehlers, Michigan, Chairman
Nick Smith, Michigan
Gil Gutknecht, Minnesota
Judy Biggert, Illinois
Wayne Gilchrest, Maryland
Timothy Johnson, Illinois
Michael Burgess, Texas

Democratic Members
Mark Udall, Colorado, Ranking Minority Member
Brad Miller, North Carolina
Lincoln Davis, Tennessee
Brian Baird, Washington
Jim Matheson, Utah
Zoe Lofgren, California

Ex-oficio members:
Sherwood L. Boehlert, New York, Chairman, House Science Committee 
Ralph M. Hall, Texas, Ranking Minority Member, House Science Committee

To contact any Member of Congress by e-mail, go to < http://www.house.gov > and 
follow prompts to find contact information for the member you want to reach.

73 de Tomas, NW7US (AAR0JA/AAM0EWA)
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