H-3908              _______________________________________________

                                            HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL NO. 36

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              49th Legislature                              1986 Regular Session

By Representatives J. King and S. Wilson

Read first time 1/23/86 and referred to Committee on Trade & Economic Development.

TO THE HONORABLE RONALD REAGAN, 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, One of the two United States geostationary satellites (GOES-5) used to obtain weather information failed on July 28, 1984, leaving parts of the Eastern United States and the Atlantic without GOES weather forecasting capabilities; and

          WHEREAS, GOES-West (GOES-6), the remaining satellite positioned at one hundred thirty-five degrees west latitude, was moved to ninety-eight degrees west latitude to maximize the coverage area; and

          WHEREAS, This movement placed Hawaii "toward the edge" of the satellite picture which resulted in image distortions and reductions in forecasting accuracy.  It also means that the area where many Pacific winter storms originate will be out of the GOES-6 photographing range; and

          WHEREAS, The national Hurricane Center has testified before the United States Congress that among the country's highest hurricane risk areas are Hawaii and the Pacific Ocean; and

          WHEREAS, Pacific marine, aviation, and public safety are critically dependent on weather information; and

          WHEREAS, A significant amount of America's international trade with Asia passes through the limited weather coverage region and weather information is a vital component in the growth of United States trade especially on the West Coast; and

          WHEREAS, The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had reactivated its oldest weather satellite (GOES-1) to provide backup coverage until it failed in February 1985;

          NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration give immediate priority attention to full restoration of weather satellite coverage to the mid-Pacific by returning GOES-6 to its mid-Pacific location, allocating the next GOES for this coverage, or any other strategy or combination of methods that would achieve the desired level of weather coverage; and

          BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable Ronald Reagan, President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, each member of Congress from the State of Washington, the Secretary of Commerce, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Territorial and International Affairs, the Assistant Secretary of Transportation for Policy and International Affairs, the members of the Congressional delegations from the Pacific, the Governors of the Pacific Basin, the National Conference of State Legislatures, and the Western Legislative Conference - CSG.