Message to the Congress Transmitting the National ... Science Foundation Report on Weather Modification.

To the Congress of the United States:

In recent months many American communities were ravaged by storms that were among the most violent and destructive in our history. Although our civilization has been able to perform the incredible feat of placing a man upon the moon and returning him to earth, we have only a very incomplete understanding of the forces which shape our weather and almost no power to control or change them. That is why this Tenth Annual Report on Weather Modification, as submitted by the National Science Foundation for Fiscal Year 1968, is of special interest.

This report tells of the important progress that is taking place in the field of weather modification--on projects ranging from augmenting precipitation and dissipating fog to simulating the life cycle of hurricanes. Such advances may someday permit us to manipulate our weather in ways which protect us from natural disasters and substantially improve the quality of our environment.

I congratulate those Americans who, in cooperation with scientists of other nations, are doing so much to achieve these goals.

RICHARD NIXON

The White House

October 27, 1969