Cantwell-Led Bipartisan Legislation to Modernize Weather Forecasting & Research Unanimously Passes Committee
Today, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation passed the bipartisan Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Reauthorization Act of 2026 which authorizes programs at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that will strengthen weather research and forecasting to save lives and better prepare our nation against dangerous weather disasters. The legislation is led by Senators Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Committee and Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and co-sponsored by Senators Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Brian Schatz (D-Hawai’i), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Ted Budd (R-N.C.).
Committee Passes Cantwell-Led Bipartisan Tsunami Preparedness Bill
Today, the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation passed the Tsunami Warning, Research and Education Act of 2026 that would reauthorize the Tsunami Warning and Education Act through 2030. Led by Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Ranking Member of the Committee, Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), the bill passed as part of Sen. Cantwell’s Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Reauthorization Act of 2026.
Ranking Member Cantwell Opening Statement Ahead of Commerce Committee Approval of NASA Reauthorization Act and Weather Act
U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, delivered the following opening statement before the Committee approved two bipartisan bills led by Sen. Cantwell, the NASA Authorization Act of 2026 (S. 933) and the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Reauthorization Act of 2026 (S. 3923):
Cantwell, Cruz, Colleagues Introduce Weather Act Reauthorization to Modernize Weather Forecasting and Research
U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Chairman Ted Cruz, (R-Texas), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Brian Schatz (D-Hawai’i), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) and Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.) today introduced the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Reauthorization Act of 2026, bipartisan legislation authorizing programs at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that would strengthen weather research and forecasting to save lives and better prepare our nation against dangerous weather disasters.
As Communities Face Increasing Weather Threats, Cantwell, Budd Introduce Bill to Deploy Nation’s Next Generation Weather Radar
U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation and Ted Budd (R-N.C.) today introduced legislation to establish the Radar Next Program which will carry out deployment of the nation’s next generation weather radar system.
Cantwell Expects New Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Lunday to Implement Reforms to Combat Sexual Harassment, Sexual Assault Required by Senator’s Bipartisan Coast Guard Reauthorization Law
U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, released the below statement following Senate confirmation of Admiral Kevin Lunday as Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard:
Cantwell Demands Answers After NOAA Cancels Funding for Real-Time Tsunami Alerts for West Coast States
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, sent a letter to the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Neil Jacobs, demanding answers and accountability after NOAA cancelled approximately $300,000 in grant funding for the Alaska Earthquake Center (AEC). As a result, the AEC will stop providing real-time seismic data to deliver timely and accurate tsunami warnings for the entire west coast by the end of November.
Washington Shipbuilder Joins Cantwell for Hearing on Commercial Maritime Industry
Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, was joined by Tuuli Snow, a member of the family-owned Seattle shipbuilder Snow & Company, for a subcommittee hearing on revitalizing our nation’s commercial shipbuilding industry.
Cantwell, Wicker, Blunt-Rochester, & Sullivan Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Reauthorize NOAA’s Sea Grant Program
U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), ranking member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation committee, Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), former chair and ranking member of the committee, Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), and Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) introduced legislation to reauthorize the National Sea Grant College Program, a partnership between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and 34 university-based programs in every coastal and Great Lakes state, Puerto Rico, and Guam.
Cantwell Reintroduces Bill to Modernize Nation’s Weather Radio
U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) Chair of the Committee, and Senators Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Jerry Moran (R–Kansas), and Gary Peters (D-Mich.) introduced the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Weather Radio Modernization Act.