22 



I am convinced, based on everything that I have seen to date, 

 that there will be no problem when we have to come to the formal 

 certification that there will be no degradation of services, sir. 



Senator D organ. You are saying to me that based on the infor- 

 mation from existing centers, the circle that is drawn up in the 

 northeastern part of Montana and the northwestern part of North 

 Dakota will not experience degraded service in your judgment? 



Dr. Friday. They will not experience degraded service in my 

 judgment. 



Senator Dorgan. You know, I would like to spend some time 

 with you about that. I know the Automated Flight Surface Stations 

 have been consolidated in North Dakota, and you can fly hundreds 

 of miles without being near an Automated Flight Surface Station. 

 And the notion is that there will be no degraded service; that ob- 

 servations from these consolidated stations will be as accurate as 

 they were in the old days. Of course, that is nuts. It is not happen- 

 ing. 



To the extent that you meet your obligation under law and also 

 meet the obligation to the people in our region, that is fine. But I 

 remain skeptical that the drive to centralize and the drive to con- 

 solidate has once again, as it has in so many other matters, left the 

 rural areas out of the picture. There are not many people who live 

 out there, but, as I said, it is 17,000 square miles, twice the size 

 of the combined States of Delaware, Rhode Island, and Connecti- 

 cut. 



Whether it is a farm family out there wondering if a whiteout is 

 going to happen in 4 or 5 hours, or whether it is a person flying 

 a Cessna-172 wondering what kind of weather they are going to 

 get into, I want to be certain that we are not creating conditions 

 that are unsafe because we have consolidated and achieved some 

 efficiencies, but are much less effective in forecasting in a rural 

 area. 



So, I raise the issue today simply to say I would like to go over 

 it in some detail with you. As you know, there are other people who 

 are well aware of the science that are skeptical of your contention 

 that service will be maintained. And I would like very much to 

 have them sit down with us and try to understand whether yours 

 is blind faith or it is indeed grounded in good scientific research. 



Dr. Friday. When we approved the modernization plan, it was 

 blind faith based on the best estimate that we had. We now have 

 real data with real forecasters and real weather. And I would be 

 delighted to show you that data and anyone that you wish to have 

 with you at the time. 



Senator Dorgan. OK. Oklahoma weather? 



Dr. Friday. Oklahoma weather. 



And very shortly I will be able to show you Kansas, Nebraska, 

 and Iowa weather. 



Senator Dorgan. They do not even wear coats down there, you 

 know. [Laughter.] 



Well, I appreciate your information, but I very much want to get 

 us together, along with some of the folks that are skeptical, and 

 have us discuss this. 



Dr. Friday. Right. 



