TO THE HONORABLE DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED:

We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and petition as follows:

WHEREAS, The United States is home to more than ten percent of the world's known active and potentially active volcanoes, most of which are currently under-monitored or not monitored at all by volcanologists, geologists, hydrologists, and other scientists; and

WHEREAS, Previous volcanic eruptions have demonstrated that unanticipated eruptions constitute major disasters, including severe loss of life, damage to property, and interruption of regular trade, shipping, and economic activity; and

WHEREAS, It has been shown that state-of-the-art monitoring equipment on active volcanoes can give scientists enough warning to notify officials and to provide for evacuations of at-risk areas, sparing residents injury or death, such as in the case of the eruption of the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii in 2018, which destroyed over seven hundred homes but led to zero deaths as a result of a timely evacuation order; and

WHEREAS, The 2018 update to the United States Geological Survey National Volcanic Threat Assessment identifies over one hundred sixty active or potentially active volcanoes, identifying eighteen volcanoes as high risk; and

WHEREAS, A majority of the high-risk volcanoes identified lie in the Cascade range spanning Washington, Oregon, and Northern California; and

WHEREAS, Many volcanoes in the Cascades of Oregon and Washington have few, if any, direct monitoring, which poses a severe threat to human life in both states; and

WHEREAS, The installation of volcano monitoring equipment can be undertaken with minimal impact on protected wilderness areas, due to the size and design of the equipment; and

WHEREAS, In March 2019, the 115th Congress passed the John D. Dingell Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act, which was then signed into law by the President, which established the National Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring System Act and appropriates approximately fifty-five million dollars over the five-year period between 2018-2022 for the express purpose of installing and upgrading monitoring systems at United States volcano observatories, commensurate with the threat to human activity posed by various volcanoes;

NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully urge Congress to mandate that the United States Geological Survey submit a five-year management plan for the use of these funds in areas of high need, such as the Cascades, and establish a committee to implement them as soon as possible; and to approve the submitted plan within a reasonable time frame so that preventable loss of life, property, and shelter can be avoided to the fullest extent possible in the event of future eruptions.

BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable Donald J. Trump, President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each member of Congress from the State of Washington.