[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 130 (Tuesday, October 17, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H10014-H10015]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   AUTHORIZING CONSTRUCTION OF SMITHSONIAN ASTROPHYSICAL OBSERVATORY 
                          SUBMILLIMETER ARRAY

  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
Senate bill (S. 2498) to authorize the Smithsonian Institution to plan, 
design, construct, and equip laboratory, administrative, and support 
space to house base operations for the Smithsonian Astrophysical 
Observatory Submillimeter Array located on Mauna Kea at Hilo, Hawaii.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                                S. 2498

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. FACILITY AUTHORIZED.

       The Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution is 
     authorized to plan, design, construct, and equip laboratory, 
     administrative, and support space to house base operations 
     for the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory Submillimeter 
     Array located on Mauna Kea at Hilo, Hawaii.

     SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

       There are authorized to be appropriated to the Board of 
     Regents of the Smithsonian Institution to carry out this Act, 
     $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2001, and $2,500,000 for fiscal 
     year 2002, which shall remain available until expended.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Thomas) and the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas).
  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  In 1989, the Smithsonian, as part of its various programs, began an 
astrophysical observatory located on the island of Hawaii on the 
volcano Mauna Kea. There are a number of other observatories located 
there as well.
  This bill is to provide funds, as was indicated, to design, construct 
and equip laboratory and administrative support space. This space had 
been given free by other institutions, but they now require the 
utilization of that space, and this bill will provide, over the fiscal 
years 2001 and 2002, sufficient money to provide the support facilities 
for the astrophysical observatory.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SCOTT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume, 
and state that we have no objection to this legislation and join the 
gentleman from California in urging its passage.
  Mrs. MINK of Hawaii. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 2498, which 
authorizes the Smithsonian Institution to plan, design, construct, and 
equip laboratory, administrative, and support space to house base 
operations in Hilo, Hawaii, for the Smithsonian Astrophysical 
Observatory Submillimeter Array on Mauna Kea.
  The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory Submillimeter Array is a 
state-of-the-art radio telescope that allows scientists to investigate 
the universe using high resolution and high frequencies to produce 
detailed images 50 times sharper than current telescopes. Located on 
Mauna Kea, the world's premier site for astronomical observations, the 
telescope array will be used to study a variety of astronomical objects 
and phenomena emitting in the submillimeter range, the narrow band of 
radiation between radio and infrared waves, a portion of the 
electromagnetic spectrum largely unexplored from the ground.
  Due to the 14,000 foot elevation and difficult working conditions at 
the summit of Mauna Kea, support staff for the array must be located at 
a base facility closer to sea level. Repairs and many of the operations 
will be done from the base facility with only a small day crew 
traveling to the summit on any given day. At present the staff is using 
inadequate, temporary leased space. Approval of this bill will allow 
the Smithsonian to begin plans for construction of a base facility that 
will ensure that the full potential for discovery offered by the 
Submillimeter Array is realized. I urge my colleagues to support S. 
2498.
  Mr. MATSUI. Mr. Speaker, I want to add my strong support of S. 2498. 
This legislation was introduced by Senator Moynihan, a member of the 
Smithsonian Board of Regents, and passed by unanimous consent in the 
Senate on June 14th, earlier this year.
  S. 2498 authorizes $4.5 million to design and build a new base camp 
facility for the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) 
Submillimeter Array Operation, on Mauna Kea in Hilo, Hawaii. The base 
camp facility will be constructed at the base of Mauna Kea, at sea

[[Page H10015]]

level, and will provide necessary space to enable staff to conduct 
repairs, operations, and scientific analysis of the information gained 
from the submillimeter telescope array, which is located at the top of 
Mauna Kea.
  As many of my colleagues may be aware, Mauna Kea, an inactive 
volcano, is home to many telescopic observatories due to its ideal 
climate and atmosphere. Smithsonian's submillimeter array program, when 
fully implemented, will consist of eight antennae whose signals will be 
combined to produce finely detailed images of distant objects.
  The need for the Smithsonian's new base camp facility arises from two 
developments. First, the facilities currently being used by Smithsonian 
submillimeter array operation staff is in shared space occupied many 
observatories on the island. As technologies, equipment and staff have 
expanded, the existing aging shared facilities have become overcrowded. 
Second, a plan by the Smithsonian to lease space in a building that was 
to be developed by GSA at the University of Hawaii fell through when 
GSA canceled the project. A new base camp is the only alternative for 
the Smithsonian.
  Mr. Speaker, the Interior Appropriations legislation signed into law 
last week, contains $2 million for this as-yet unauthorized project. 
The inclusion of those funds was due to the efforts of Chairman Ralph 
Regula, another colleague of mine from the Smithsonian's Board of 
Regents, and I want to thank him for ensuring that this important 
project does not fall behind schedule.
  I also want to thank Mr. Thomas, the Chair of the House 
Administration Committee, and the Ranking Democrat, Mr. Hoyer, for 
allowing this bill to be brought to the floor for immediate 
consideration. Finally, I want to thank my colleagues from Hawaii, Mrs. 
Mink and Mr. Abercrombie for their support and cosponsorship, along 
with Mr. Hoyer, of H.R. 4729, the House companion to the legislation 
before us today. I urge adoption of this legislation.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 2498, to authorize 
$2.0 million in fiscal 2001 and $2.5 million in fiscal 2002 to 
construct a new sea-level base camp for the Smithsonian Submillimeter 
Array at Mauna Kea on the Island of Hawaii.
  The array is a state-of-the art radio telescope located at the 14,000 
foot elevation which uses high resolution and high frequencies to 
produce images 50 times sharper than current telescopes.
  This observation site, one of the finest and most important in the 
world, greatly enhances the ability of scientists to understand, study 
and track the birth of stars, quasars, and other phenomena.
  S. 2498, sponsored by Senator Moynihan, passed the Senate unanimously 
on June 14, 2000 and was referred to the committee on House 
Administration. The identical House measure, H.R. 4729, was introduced 
by Representative Matsui of California, who is a regent of the 
Smithsonian Institution. It was cosponsored by Representatives Mink and 
Abercrombie and myself. Passage of S. 2498 by the House today will 
clear this measure for the President.
  Funding for the base-camp project, which is expected to be completed 
in 2002, has been included in the interior appropriations bill for 
fiscal 2001, so passage of this authorization bill will complete the 
legislative process.
  Mr. Speaker, this support facility is needed because, due to the 
altitude, harsh weather and working conditions at the summit, array 
operations and staff must be located at sea level with only a small 
staff traveling to the array on any given day. Economical leasing space 
is not available in the Hilo area, and construction of the base 
facility will obviate the need for expensive commercial space in that 
city. According to the Smithsonian, estimated rental costs for the 30-
year life cycle of the array would be more than double that of the base 
facility being authorized here. The project will provide 16,000 square 
feet of electronics laboratories, offices and support space for 
maintenance of the array, under the direction of the Smithsonian 
Institution Astrophysical Observatory. Like other organizations basing 
observations at Mauna Kea, the support structure will be built on land 
donated by the University of Hawaii at Hilo Science Park for $1 a year.
  Mr. Speaker, we live in an age of exploration, and there are few 
things which so stir the imagination as the exploration of space.
  In recent years we have discovered planets orbiting distant stars, 
gained new understanding of the age of the universe, and discovered 
phenomena which have forced us to reexamine our understanding of the 
laws of physics and the underpinnings of the natural world.
  The Smithsonian Institution has played a leading role in the 
advancement of mankind's understanding of the physical world we can see 
and touch, as well as of the distant universe, and the world of the 
imagination which projects like the submillimeter array make real to 
us.
  I strongly support this legislation and I complement Representative 
Matsui and the Smithsonian regents from the House, Representatives 
Regula and Sam Johnson of Texas, for their initiative in bringing it 
before us.
  Mr. SCOTT. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the Senate bill, S. 2498.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the Senate bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________