# Presentation: 005224

## ...

***Working with Congress Successfully***

-  Debbie Larson
- Director
- NOAA Office of Legislative Affairs
- NOAA Leadership Seminar
- Warrenton, Virginia
- August  26, 2004

## Overview

- Why are so many Members and Committees interested in NOAA?
- How does NOAA ‘Work the Hill’?
- How a NOAA bill becomes law?
- Why do we need new NOAA Champions?

## Why do I need to know about the Congress? 

- The Constitution gives Congress “the power of the purse”
- It oversees how the Executive Branch is organized and how it operates
- It provides legislative authorities necessary for agencies to carry out their missions
- It confirms Executive Branch nominations

## How Congress Works

- Majority selects leadership at the beginning of each two-year Congress
- Authorization Committees provide legal basis for federal agencies and they monitor program implementation
- Appropriations Committees approve funding each fiscal year for federal agencies. Money bills originate in House

## Senate: Commerce, Science, and Transportation 
Oceans, Fisheries, and Coast Guard Subcommittee and 
Science, Technology, and Space Subcommittee

House:  Resources Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife and Oceans Subcommittee
Science Environment, Technology and Standards Subcommittee

- Oceans, Fisheries, and Coast Guard Subcommittee and
- Science, Technology, and Space Subcommittee
- House:  Resources Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife and Oceans Subcommittee
- Science Environment, Technology and Standards Subcommittee

- NOAA Authorizing Committees

**Notes:**
Under the Senate Commerce Committee there are two subcommittees which authorize NOAA’s programs: The Oceans and Fisheries Subcommittee and the Science, Technology, and Space Subcommittee. 

## NOAA’s Unique Hill Relationship

- Viewed as a
-    non-political science-
-    based agency
- Intense support from
-    key leaders
- Positive public image—programs touch constituents lives daily
- Fisheries regulations causes most controversy and Member concern

**Notes:**
Rep. Vern Ehlers on a NOAA Corps Ship on Lake Michigan

## NOAA Benefits from Population Shifts

- From 1980 to 2000, 28
- 	new House seats have been
- 	created in Coastal states
- 	because of the in-migration
- 	to the coasts
- Most significant gains has been in States with major NOAA programs:
-                   +7                +8               +5

## Hill Interest in Oceans Intense

- Large number of NOAA-related Caucuses:  --Oceans   --Sportsmen’s

- --Long Island
- --Coastal
- --Northeast-Midwest Coalition

## Hill interest in Weather

- NOAA Weather has also
- 	benefited from move to
- 	the Coasts
- Greater concern for
- 	Atlantic hurricanes
- 	especially with dense South Florida population growth
- Persistent wildfires caused by endemic drought in the West threaten new housing

## NOAA’s unique relationship with non-voting Delegates

- 		+NOAA has also benefited
- 		from the creation of non-voting
- 		delegates and one Resident
- 				Commissioner
- 				+Under House Rules, the
- 				Delegates can serve on
- 				Committees, including being
- 	Chair or Ranking Minority Members, and speak on the House floor
- They are from Guam, American Samoa, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands—all ocean dependent islands

## How Does Legislative Affairs Work

- Pro-active  24/7/365
- Anticipate Member    needs
- Communicate, communicate, communicate

-  Respond promptly, if not sooner
-     Get them into the field

**Notes:**
Hart Senate Office Building

## Organizational  Chart

## Office Functions

- 	Hearing coordination:
- Selecting witnesses
- Managing testimony drafting
- Briefing witnesses
- Responding to post-hearing questions
- Reviewing hearing transcripts

## LA Office Functions (cont.)

- 	Legislative coordination:
- Drafting Assistance
- Monitoring bill and amendment introductions
- Maintaining communication with bill sponsors
- Coordinating Views Letters, Statement of Administration Policy and unofficial views

## LA Office Functions (cont.)

- 	Senate confirmations:
- Arrange nominee appointments with key Members and Staff
- Brief nominee on hearing process and possible questions
- Coordinate statement preparation
- Provide post-hearing information requested by Committee

**Notes:**
Slobodan Milosevic, former President of Yugoslavia, now being tried as a war criminal

## LA Office Functions (cont.)

- 	Communications:
- Initiate meetings and briefings with Members and Staff
- Respond promptly to Congressional inquiries
- Introduce key staff to NOAA through meetings, site visits and written materials
- Maintain website
- Keep Department and NOAA leadership informed through written and oral reports

## How a NOAA Bill Becomes Law

- 1. Rep. Bob Etheridge (D-NC)
- drops H.R. 2486, authorizing
- NOAA to improve inland flooding
- forecasts on 7/12/01.
- 2. The House Science Environment, Technology,
- and Standards Subcommittee holds hearing on
- 10/11/01. National Weather Service S&T Director
- Jack Hayes and Research Meteorologist Chris
- Landsea testify for NOAA.

## How a NOAA Bill Becomes Law (Cont.)

- 3. Subcommittee marks up bill on 12/12/01. Full
- Science Committee marks up bill on 5/22/02
- and reports (approves) it with an amendment.
- 4. The Committee issues a written report on 6/5/02
- and the bill is placed on the House calendar.

- 5. The House Rules Committee on 7/9/01 reports a
- resolution authorizing the bill to the go to the floor.
- 6. The House first adopts the debating resolution
- and goes to the bill. Debate begins and Rep. Sheila
- Jackson-Lee (D-TX) amendment is adopted by voice
- vote. The bill passes 413-3.

## How a NOAA Bill Becomes Law (Cont.)

- 7. The bill goes to the Senate
- where it is referred to the
- Commerce Committee.  There are no
- hearings held on the bill.
- 8. On 9/19/02 the bill is reported favorably to
- the floor.
- 9. The bill clears the Senate by Unanimous
- Consent without amendment.
- 10. President Bush signs the bill into law on 10/29/02.

## Fair Sailing, Friends

- NOAA is losing some of its
- 	most reliable and steadfast
- 	supporters who are retiring
- 	at the end of the 108th
- 	Congress.
- Others will be required to move on to new Committee leadership assignments due to rules set by the Republican Caucus.

## Sen. Ernest Hollings (D-SC)

- Sen. Ernest Hollings is the Ranking Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee and Ranking Democrat on Commerce-Justice-State Appropriations Committee. He supported the recommendations of the Stratton Commission to create NOAA soon after sworn in in 1966.  Through the years, he has stood by NOAA’s side. He is the author of the Coastal Zone Management Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act, Coastal and Estuarine Land Protection Act, Authored the Oceans Act of 2000, which created the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy.  He has tirelessly fought to find NOAA programs when faced with reductions and opposed Congressional efforts to dismantle the agency.

## Sen. John Breaux (D-LA)

- Sen. Breaux has been a member of the Senate since 1987. He currently serves as Ranking Democrat on the Science, Technology, and Space Subcommittee of the Commerce Committee. He also serves on the Oceans and Fisheries Subcommittee. In 1990, he authored landmark legislation resulting in more than $50 million annually to preserve America's wetlands. This has especially benefited Louisiana. The Act is named in his honor

## Sen. Bob Graham (D-FL)

- Sen. Graham began his Senate service in 1987. Previously, he was governor of Florida. He is Ranking Democrat on the Fisheries, Wildlife, and Water Subcommittee of the Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee.  He authored legislation to create the Florida Key National Marine Sanctuary.  He has fought for legislation to preserve the Everglades.

## Rep. Jim Greenwood (R-PA)

- A Member since 1993, he represents suburban Philadelphia. He is a founder and co-chair of the House Oceans Caucus, even though his district  is 70 miles from the Atlantic Coast. While in the Pennsylvania General Assembly he specialized in environmental issues.

## Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK)

- As chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Sen. Stevens has worked hard to gain full funding for NOAA.  Under the rules of the Senate Republican Conference, he must relinquish his chairmanship of the Appropriations Committee.  If the Republicans retain control of the Senate, he will becomes the Chair of the Commerce Committee, where he will still have enormous influence over NOAA policies.

## What can we do?

## NOAA Champions

- Our office has developed a
-    detailed plan to bring up
- 	new talent from our farm
- 	team in the House and
- 	Senate
- We have identified about a dozen Members who are promising prospects
- We have already begun to work with their staffs to bring them up to the majors

## Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS)

- In the 109th Congress, Sen. Cochran will either be the chairman or the Ranking Minority Member on the Senate Appropriations Committee. He will be replacing Sen. Stevens who must leave the Appropriations Committee. Mississippi is a natural because of its Gulf Coast and many NOAA facilities.

## Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI)

- In the 109th Congress, Sen. Inouye will either be the chairman or the Ranking Minority Member on the Senate Commerce Committee. He will remain the second most senior Democrat on Appropriations Committee. He has always been a friend of NOAA and its predecessor agencies during his Senate career, which began in  1963.

## Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)

- Sen. Feinstein is a member of the Appropriations Committee. She joined the Senate in 1993.  Previously, she was Mayor of San Francisco. The Bay Area is home to numerous NOAA Sanctuaries.

## Rep. Norm Dicks (D-WA)

- Rep. Norm Dicks (D-WA) is a member of the Appropriations Committee has been active in efforts save endangered or threatened Northwest Pacific Salmon. His district includes parts of Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. He formerly worked for former Sen. Warren Magnuson (D-WA), who authorized Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act, now called the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

## Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL)

- Rep. Kirk is a member of the Commerce-Justice-State Appropriations Subcommittee, which funds NOAA. He is a former U.S. Senate staffer. He represents Chicago’s North Shore suburbs, which border Lake Michigan shoreline. Besides Great Lakes pollution, he is interested in the preservation of coral reefs.

## The 2004 Elections

- 	Regardless of who wins these
- 	issues will have to  be
- 	addressed:
- How will the recommendations
- 	of the Oceans
- 	Commission be implemented?
- Will other federal ocean programs be transferred to NOAA?
- Will NOAA finally have an Organic Act?

## The 2004 Elections (Cont.)

- Control of the Senate is “in play” with a shift of only two seats changing control
- Regardless of the outcome of the election, NOAA is in good shape because of the tradition of bipartisan support
- With 23 years under Republican Administrations and 12 years under Democratic Administrations NOAA has been led almost always by a scientist.