Mr. REED. Mr. President, my key topic this morning is to speak about the tremendous value that NOAA--the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration--provides the American people.

Over the past few weeks, we have heard alarming reports that the Trump administration wants to make good on its Project 2025 promise to ``break up and downsize'' and privatize portions of NOAA, including the National Weather Service. Destroying NOAA in this way would be an enormous blunder that would hurt our economy, hamper innovation, and increase the risks to American lives and property.

The fact is that NOAA accounts for just one-tenth of 1 percent of the Federal budget. Yet it is delivering information and research that are absolutely vital to our economic prosperity.

The reports we see on the local news, on the Weather Channel, and all our smart phones are built on forecasts and information generated by the National Weather Service and its array of scientists, satellites, and equipment.

NOAA's tornado and hurricane warning systems provide local emergency managers critical information to prepare and respond to storms, often up to a week in advance.

NOAA's aviation forecasts help ensure planes can take off and land at their destinations safely.

NOAA's seasonal forecasts help farmers plant and grow our food.

On the seas, NOAA's nautical charting and mapping services are used by everyone, from recreational boaters to international shipping companies. Its exploration of uncharted portions of the ocean floor give us insight into parts of our planet that are still as mysterious--maybe even more mysterious than outer space.

NOAA works to protect our fishing industry and bring American seafood to kitchen tables around the world, supporting 1.7 million fishing jobs, a quarter of a trillion dollars in seafood industry sales, and $117 billion in value-added impacts.

And the list goes on and on and on.

A study by the American Meteorological Society found that every dollar invested in the National Weather Service produces $73 in value to the American people.

NOAA isn't a creature of Washington, DC. It is in Norman, OK, where NOAA's Storm Prediction Center tracks severe weather and tornado warnings. It is in Florida, where NOAA's National Hurricane Center monitors incoming storms to save lives and mitigate property loss. It is in Alaska, where scientists at NOAA's Fisheries Science Center work to maintain healthy fish populations to support local fishermen.

It is in my home State of Rhode Island, the Ocean State, where NOAA is building Atlantic Marine Operations Center, which will centralize its operations and take advantage of the expertise found in Rhode Island and our nearby States.

We have an incredible concentration of oceanographic and marine scientists.

We have the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport. They are leaders in research for underseas vessels, issues that are critical to our national security. The University of Rhode Island, just across the bay, has a nationally recognized School of Oceanography, and they have just devoted millions of dollars to upgrade and improve that. They will receive a new research vessel shortly.

We have a partnership with Woods Hole in Massachusetts, just probably 45 minutes away. This is where the scientific center on oceanography is gradually emerging, and so NOAA's arrival will be beneficial. But it won't be a result simply of their efforts; it will be the combination of what we have already put in place.

NOAA is, as I said, situated in an area where--the Blue Economy, which includes our Graduate School of Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island, the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, small shipyards, and one of the most important fishing ports on the east coast. They will become an integral part of that. So they will be sustained and supported at the same time they sustain and support our current efforts.

As we face new and ever-growing challenges, including those driven by climate change and extreme weather, NOAA's work is more vital than ever.

The President and Mr. Musk's reckless threats to NOAA's workforce, its budget, and its scientific research will make us less prepared and cost more money and, indeed, lives.

Craig McLean, who served as NOAA's top scientist during the first Trump administration, said of the threats posed by the President and Elon Musk:

It's dire. . . . The way that this is being handled is with ignorance and a sledgehammer rather than the appropriate discretion that's necessary.

Protecting NOAA and its workforce is an investment in our future, an investment in our ability to predict and prepare for natural disasters and in the resilience of our planet.

I urge the President and my colleagues to protect NOAA and ensure it can continue to carry out its mission and continue to provide valuable services to the American people.

I yield the floor.