The bill directs the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrationto expand and modernize the existing warning system, including a detection and warning system for both the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans.

The bill also instructs NOAA to provide technical assistance and other aid to other countries establishing their own regional tsunami warning systems, including in the Indian Ocean, where a massive tidal wave late last year left 273,000 people dead or missing.

The bill, which now goes to the full US Senate for approval, would provide 35 million dollars of funding from the 2006 to 2012 fiscal years for tsunami-related activities.

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