Washington senator on Texas flooding, weather readiness in the U.S. and more

WASHINGTON (CBS, KYMA/KECY) - Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) spoke with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation Sunday about the Texas flooding.

Senator Cantwell said she's going to send a letter to President Trump with five recommendations for how the federal government can help improve U.S. weather readiness and technology, some of which have bipartisan support in the Senate.

"This is a national responsibility," she says. "If you want accurate weather information, it's not community to community. It's a national system, and we share that with the local people and help them best respond."

"We as a nation shouldn't be second to Europe or anybody in being a weather-ready nation. We should be the smartest government in the world, using technology, analyzing the data and putting a forecast system into place that gives people that kind of system," she added.

During the interview, Brennan and Cantwell talked about the latter not deciding on whether she will vote for Dr. Neil Jacobs, President Trump's pick to lead NOAA, and that she wants to hear more on how Jacobs will support the agency's science and research missions that help with weather readiness.

"It's a minuscule investment to keep some of these science research functions at NOAA to help them better prepare people for hurricanes, for tornadoes and floods," she says.

To watch more of Brennan's interview with Cantwell, click here.