Date: 2003-10-01
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. and I rise in support of H.R. 2608. H.R. 2608 is the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program Reauthorization Act of This legislation will strengthen a valuable Federal program which has the important goal of improving public safety. I want to acknowledge the leadership of the chairman of the Subcommittee on Research. the gentleman from Michigan . and my colleague. the gentleman from Washington . in introducing H.R. 2608. I also want to thank the chairman of the Committee on Science. the gen.leman from New York . for working in a bipartisan manner with this side of the aisle to further develop the bill and to move it expeditiously through the committee and to the floor. The National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program. often called NEHfRP. was established 25 years ago to address a serious seismic hazard in the United States. The program has the major goal of determining how to lower the risk to people and to the built environment. Today. 75 million Americans in 39 States are directly vulnerable to a serious earthquake. The potential economic losses in a large metropolitan area due to a major earthquake could be over $100 billion. These facts alone make the justification for NEHRP selfevident. and even after 25 years the relevance of the program continues. Most observers of NEHRP believe it has made many valuable contributions. In particular. it has Increased our understanding of earthquake processes and has provided detailed information about the geographic distribution of earthquake risk. Equally important. the program has helped to improve engineering design and practice for structures and lifelines suitable for earthquakeprone regions. Nevertheless. much work remains to be done. The NEHRP can be improved and made more effective. which became evident from the hearings before the Committee on Science. More can be done on technology transfer that will bring into practice what has been learned from the research activities about the most effective and economical ways for enhancing seismic safety of the built environment. Also. some deficiencies needed to be addressed regarding the planning and administration of the program. In 1993.: the former chairman of the Committee on Science. Mr. George Brown. wrote the President to express concerns about NEHRP. He cited the lack of strategic planning. insufficient coordination and implementation of research results and a lack of emphasis on mitigation. Unfortunately. most of these concerns are still valid. H.R. 2608 focuses on two aspects of the program most in need of improvement: program leadership and increased emphasis on transitioning the results of research into practice. Leadership is addressed by designating the National Institutes of Standard and Technology. the lead agency for planning and coordinating the implementation of the interagency program. NIST is charged to convene a process to develop a strategic plan and work jointly with the other NEHRP agencies to prepare a detailed implementation plan and budget for the program for submittal to OMB during the budget formulation process. The bill also creates an advisory committee of nongovernment experts to help guide implementation of the program and to assist the agencies in defining program priorities. Thus. H.R. 2608 puts in place mechanisms that will provide the leadership needed to ensure a wellcoordinated. carefully planned. and effectively executed National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program. In addition. the legislation authorizes the resources needed to enable NEHRP to achieve its goals. It authorizes full funding for the Advanced National Seismic System. This distributed national facility. which has been the highest priority of the earthquake hazards reduction community. was first authorized in the year 2000. but has been funded at only 10 percent of the level required. I hope that with this authorization adequate appropriations will follow so that the Advanced National Seismic System may be completed without further delay. The bill also specifies funding needed to complete the George E. Brown Network for Engineering Simulation and to support its operation. Moreover. the funding increases authorized will enable NEHRP agencies to expand their research activities so that this powerful new research tool can be fully employed. Mr. Speaker. H.R. 2608 is a bill of national importance and will help improve public safety and mitigate earthquake hazards. I commend the bill to my colleagues and ask for passage by the House. Mr. Speaker. I reserve the balance of my time.