Rogers Remarks at Oversight Hearing on National Weather Service

Welcome everyone to the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science’s first hearing of 2026. I would like to thank our Subcommittee Members and Assistant Secretary Jordan for being here today. I would also like to thank full Committee Chairman, Tom Cole, for joining us as well. 

The completion of a Fiscal Year 2026 bill to fund the National Weather Service, and Fiscal Year 2026 bills funding the majority of the government, would not have been possible without the steady leadership of Chairman Cole. I am grateful for his participation today. 

In January, Congress provided targeted investments to expand the workforce and capabilities of the National Weather Service. The Service has a vital public safety mission, providing timely and accurate weather forecasts and warnings to local communities that protect life and property. 

Unfortunately, I know this all too well, as my district in Eastern Kentucky has been ravaged by storms over the last number of years. From historic floods in 2022 that took the lives of 45 people to an EF-4 tornado last summer that killed 19 people. To make matters worse, I had to ask if the local weather office was fully staffed and whether proper warnings were being issued and reaching my constituents. Assistant Secretary Jordan, this is unacceptable. 

In Fiscal Year 2026, Congress provided the National Weather Service with over 1.45 billion dollars to fulfill its mission: ensuring local Weather Forecast Offices are staffed for operations and leveraging technology and the private sector to cover data gaps and improve weather forecasts. The current administration seems to be making progress, working to streamline back-end functions to improve performance and increase the number of staff in local weather forecast offices across the nation. 

This is important and I will continue to monitor this closely. The enacted Fiscal Year 2026 bill also provided an additional 10 million dollars to support full staffing at all Weather Forecast Offices. I am already seeing the benefits of this in my rural region. The Service recently hired two more meteorologists at the Jackson, Kentucky Weather Forecast Office which serves my constituents. 

During today’s hearing, I look forward to learning more about how you are using these resources to focus on staffing local offices. I also urge the Department of Commerce to send the Committee their spend plans for Fiscal Year 2026 so we can better understand how NWS and Commerce are using the resources Congress provided.

In times of impending weather disasters, the value of clear, and accurate information coming from the Service cannot be understated and could be the difference between life and death for many Americans. Today’s discussion is critically important, and I look forward to a full discussion on how the National Weather Service can better inform our citizens. With that, I would now like to recognize the ranking member of the Subcommittee, Ms. Meng.