[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 122 (Friday, July 27, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1639-E1640]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 COMMERCE, JUSTICE, SCIENCE, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 
                                  2008

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. ADAM B. SCHIFF

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 26, 2007

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 3093) making 
     appropriations for the Departments of Commerce and Justice, 
     and Science, and Related Agencies for the fiscal year ending 
     September 30, 2008, and for other purposes:

  Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Chairman, this is an important bill that funds many 
crucial priorities for this Nation. I offer my congratulations to the 
gentleman from West Virginia, Mr. Mollohan, for crafting a bill that 
balances important investments in law enforcement and economic 
development with the need to maintain our Nation's scientific and 
technological leadership.
  Nowhere has Chairman Mollohan shown more foresight and wisdom than in 
his decision to increase our national investment in NASA, which has 
been at the forefront of humanity's exploration of the cosmos for the 
past 39 years.
  Earlier this year, I told NASA administrator Michael Griffin that I 
viewed the President's budget request for NASA as a floor and not a 
ceiling. That request, for $17.3 billion, was $1.4 billion below the 
congressionally authorized level and, in my view, shortchanged too much 
science on the one hand, while allowing no margin for error whatsoever 
in terms of human spaceflight.
  This budget crunch at the space agency has been brewing for several 
years. To start, the costs resulting from Hurricane Katrina and the 
Space Shuttle Return-to Flight after the Columbia tragedy were never 
recouped by NASA. Second, several big-ticket and vital missions have 
exceeded cost estimates and, third, the addition of the Hubble Space 
Telescope servicing mission adds an additional funding burden to NASA.
  At the same time, the FY 2007 Joint Resolution reduced NASA's human 
spaceflight program budget by $670 million, the practical effect of 
which will be at least a 6-month delay in the launch of the new Orion 
and Ares I, a delay that will increase the 4 year ``gap'' in American 
human spaceflight capability and increase our reliance on the Russians 
to launch and recover crew for the International Space Station.
  And, Mr. Chairman, even as we speak, the People's Republic of China 
is working hard to become a dominant space power--both in the civilian 
sector and in the military use of space.
  This budget crunch has brought us to a point of reckoning. Congress 
and this Nation are going to need to make some decisions about the 
value of space to our national life. I know that there is broad and 
deep support for NASA and its mission and I also believe that we should 
begin to ramp up the NASA budget to make our push back to the Moon a 
reality, while continuing to answer the great fundamental questions 
about our own planet and our place in the cosmos.

  It is the area of space science that most concerns me and where I 
think that Chairman Mollohan has been especially responsive to the 
needs of America's scientific community. I have a special concern for 
space science as my colleague from California, Mr. Dreier, and I 
represent the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which is the crown jewel 
of NASA's efforts to explore the solar system and the universe beyond.
  One of the most exciting endeavors that NASA is engaged in is the 
search for the presence of planets around neighboring stars. NASA's 
search for planets and life beyond our solar system is having 
increasing and dramatic success with over 105 planets now discovered.
  For years, JPL has been working on a planet hunter spacecraft and the 
Space Interferometry Mission program has successfully passed all its 
technological milestones and is thus ready for development. SIM is 
expected to examine 2000-3000 stars for planetary systems to fulfill a 
critical step in the search for Earth-like planets.

[[Page E1640]]

  This mission has been supported by Congress in the last two years and 
by the Academy Decadal Astrophysics reports in 1990 and 2000. To this 
point NASA has spent approximately $300 million on the program. 
Unfortunately, the President's 2008 budget request for NASA drastically 
scaled back funding for the program--essentially putting it on ice. 
Thankfully, Chairman Mollohan has restored funding for SIM and directed 
NASA to proceed with development.
  JPL has also been the epicenter of our efforts to explore Mars. The 
rovers Spirit and Opportunity have been exploring the Red Planet for 
the past 3\1/2\ years and next month the Mars Phoenix Lander will begin 
its journey to Mars. I am happy to report that the bill fully funds the 
Mars program, which allows for a new mission to be launched about every 
2 years.
  Finally, NASA does not currently have an outer planets mission in 
development and I am happy that the bill provides $10 million to begin 
work on such a mission.
  Mr. Chairman, I know that many of my colleagues have expressed 
support today for NASA and its mission and have elaborated at length on 
the technological and other spinoffs from the space program. I would 
like to urge all of you to remember another crucial spinoff from the 
space program--international goodwill.
  The United States is not universally loved around the world at the 
moment. However, one area in which our prestige remains undiminished is 
in space exploration. The ESA, the Canadians, the Japanese, the Indians 
and many others want to partner with us. Our space program also 
continues to generate enormous interest and enthusiasm worldwide. In 
the first 2 months after Spirit and Opportunity landed on Mars in 
January 2004, JPL's rover website registered almost 9 billion hits from 
around the world. At a time when America needs ways to communicate with 
a growing and increasingly younger global audience, our space program 
is an important public diplomacy asset.
  I thank the Chairman and urge my colleagues to support the bill.

                          ____________________