[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.
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