Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.) demanded today that Administrator Jane Lubchenco of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration provide Congress with an unredacted copy of an internal report that found the National Weather Service reallocated millions of dollars without required congressional approval.

Lubchenco released a memo last week detailing the findings against the Weather Service. A team of top officials found that senior administrators had improperly taken funds from some programs to cover the costs of forecasting activities and employee salaries (Greenwire, May 29).

But she did not publicly release the 60-page investigative report. In a letter sent today, Broun wrote that NOAA -- and its mother agency, the Department of Commerce -- has refused to hand over the report to Congress as well, citing the Privacy Act.

Broun has followed the reallocation controversy for months, as the top investigator of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee. In his letter, he insinuated that the problems at the Weather Service began with a structural deficit that left the small agency with too little money for its mission.

"Congress cannot conduct appropriate oversight over the Executive branch without all the facts," Broun wrote. "It appears as though budget requests for the NWS were consistently insufficient, and that NOAA chose to fund other Administration priorities rather than the 'protection of life and property and the enhancement of the national economy' -- the Weather Service's primary mission."

NOAA officials say they knew nothing of the Weather Service's actions, despite overseeing the agency and helping determine its budget. But NOAA has asked Congress to reprogram more than $35 million to cover gaps in the Weather Service budget -- a request Broun contends can't be met without "a full explanation of why it is needed, or what happened."

"The more NOAA and DOC drag their feet, the longer it will take Congress to understand and help remedy the budget problems at NWS," he wrote.