H.R. 7361 — Reported in House

IB Union Calendar No. 319 117th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 7361 [Report No. 117–412] IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES April 1, 2022Mr. Feenstra (for himself, Mrs. Axne, Mrs. Miller-Meeks, Mrs. Hinson, and Mr. Gimenez) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology July 14, 2022Additional sponsors: Mr. Ellzey, Mr. Meijer, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. LaTurner, Mr. Carey, Mr. Carbajal, and Mr. Gottheimer July 14, 2022Reported from the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed A BILL To upgrade the communications service used by the National Weather Service, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the National Weather Service Communications Improvement Act. 2. National Weather Service communications (a) In general Title IV of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8541 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 415. National Weather Service communications (a) System upgrade The Director of the National Weather Service shall improve the instant messaging service used by National Weather Service personnel by implementing a commercial off-the-shelf communications solution hosted on the public cloud to serve as a replacement for the communications system in use as of the date of the enactment of this section (commonly referred to as NWSChat). Such communications solution shall satisfy requirements set forth by the Director to best accommodate future growth and perform successfully with increased numbers of users. (b) Authorization of appropriations There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $3,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2026, to remain available until expended. . (b) Clerical amendment The table of contents in section 1(b) of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 414 the following new item: Sec. 415. National Weather Service communications. . July 14, 2022Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed