Watts asks Clinton to sign weather bill

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- U.S. Rep. J.C. Watts has asked President Clinton to sign an appropriations bill that includes funding for the pre-construction costs of a proposed weather center in Norman.

The measure's conference report passed the U.S. House last week, but Clinton has threatened to veto the measure.

The project would create the proposed center, which would consolidate the weather tracking departments of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the University of Oklahoma's School of Meteorology, Watts said Monday in a news release from Washington.

In a letter, Watts reminded Clinton of his trip to Oklahoma following the May 3, 1999, tornadoes and his support for establishing a National Weather Center with the help of federal funding.

Watts said he thanked Clinton in the letter for his past efforts with the center and reiterated the urgency in signing the bill.