[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 153 (Thursday, September 25, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9471-S9473]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION AUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2008

  Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that 
the Commerce Committee be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 
6063 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 6063) to authorize the programs of the 
     National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and for other 
     purposes.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that 
the Nelson of Florida and Vitter substitute amendment, which is at the 
desk, be agreed to; the bill, as amended, be read the third time and 
passed, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no 
intervening action or debate, and any statements related to the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 5648) was agreed to.
  (The amendment is printed in today's Record under ``Text of 
Amendments.'')
  The amendment was ordered to be engrossed and the bill to be read a 
third time.
  The bill (H.R. 6063), as amended, was read the third time, and 
passed.
  Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, we have just passed the NASA 
reauthorization bill. It is noteworthy that next week, October 1, is 
the 50th anniversary of the start of the National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration, and if my colleagues will recall, that was 1958. My 
colleagues may remember what was happening. The Soviet Union had 
surprised us by putting into orbit the first satellite, Sputnik, and 
America, in the midst of the Cold War among two superpowers, was 
absolutely shocked that we were behind in our technology; that we could 
not be premier. Then, lo and behold, 3 years later, they shocked us 
again by putting the first human in orbit, Yuri Gagarin, for one orbit 
when, in fact, we only had a rocket, the Redstone, that could get a 
human into suborbit. Then, we put Alan Shepard and subsequently Gus 
Grissom in suborbit, and then, in the meantime, the Soviet Union put 
Titov into several orbits. Of course, the

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eyes of the world then focused in on Cape Canaveral, when a young 
marine, one of the original seven American astronauts, named John 
Glenn, climbed into that capsule knowing that the Atlas rocket had a 
20-percent chance of failure. He rode it into the heavens for only 
three orbits. There was an indication on the instrument panel that his 
heat shield was loose, and as he started the deorbit burn, John Glenn 
knew that if that was an accurate reading, on reentry into the Earth's 
fiery atmosphere, heating up in excess of 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit, he 
would burn up. It is that memorable time when we heard his last words 
before he went into the blackout period on radio transmissions: John 
Glenn humming ``The Battle Hymn of the Republic.'' It is hard to tell 
that story without getting a lump in my throat.
  Of course, what then happened, months before we flew John Glenn, we 
had a young President who said: We are going to the Moon and back 
within 9 years. This Nation came together. It focused the political 
will, it provided the resources, and it did what people did not think 
could be done.
  A generation of young people so inspired by this Nation's space 
program started pouring into the universities, into math and science 
and technology and engineering. That generation that was educated in 
high technology has been the generation that has led us to be the 
leader in a global marketplace by producing the technology, the 
innovations, the intellectual capital that has allowed us to continue 
to be that leader.
  So it is with that background that this Senator, who has the 
privilege of chairing the Space and Science Subcommittee within the 
Commerce Committee, wants to say: Happy birthday, NASA. We are sending 
to the House of Representatives tonight this NASA reauthorization bill, 
which will give the flexibility to the next President, and his designee 
as the next leader of NASA, the flexibility in a very troubled program 
that has not had the resources to do all the things that are demanded 
of it to try to continue to keep America preeminent in space; also to 
continue to have access to our own International Space Station that we 
built and paid for; and then to chart out a course for the future 
exploration of the heavens that will keep us fulfilling our destiny of 
our character as an American people, which is that by nature we are 
explorers and adventurers.
  We never want to give that up. If we ever do, we will be a second-
rate nation. But we would not because we have always had a frontier, a 
new frontier. In the development of this country, it used to be 
westward. Now it is upward and it is inward and that is the frontier we 
want to continue to explore.
  So happy birthday, NASA. It is my hope that we will have the House of 
Representatives take this up on their suspension calendar tomorrow.
  I wish to give great credit to the staff who are in the room for the 
majority and the minority. They all have worked at enormous overload--
Chan Lieu and Jeff Bingham. Jeff, despite the fact of having suffered a 
heart attack earlier this year, and we didn't even let him out of his 
recuperative bed but that I was on the phone with him getting him to 
start corralling all these other Senators and House Members so we could 
get a consensus, so we could come together in an agreement.
  The result tonight is the fact that this has been cleared in a 100-
member Senate, when Senators are on edge and they are always looking 
for something to object to, and there is no objection here, as ruled by 
the Presiding Officer.
  My congratulations to all the people, to the staff of the Commerce 
Committee, and to the staff of the Science and Technology Committee in 
the House of Representatives, chaired by Congressman Bart Gordon of 
Tennessee. I am very grateful for everybody coming together and making 
this happen.
  Mr. VITTER. Mr. President, I am delighted to join my subcommittee 
chairman, Senator Bill Nelson, in bringing this legislation to the 
floor for consideration and passage. I share his belief that this 
legislation is an important statement of overwhelming congressional 
intent regarding the future of our Nation's civil space programs.
  This statement, in the form of legislation we expect to have the 
near-unanimous support of the Congress, comes at a crucial time for 
NASA and its important programs. Not only do we, as authorizing 
committee members, believe it is our responsibility to regularly and 
consistently offer legislation to authorize appropriations levels, but 
also to provide a policy framework and guidance for the effective and 
efficient use of those appropriations. The passage of this bill will 
represent the first time in over 20 years that NASA authorization bills 
will have been adopted back-to-back by the Congress.
  This week we celebrated NASA's 50th anniversary of the legislation 
that brought NASA into existence on October 1, 1958, and began this 
Nation's concerted effort to explore the heavens above us, and the 
universe beyond.
  NASA also finds itself at a unique moment in its history, where it is 
undertaking a major shift in its contribution to the human exploration 
and utilization of space. In just two more years, we will see the 
completion of the International Space Station, which NASA has been 
developing, in cooperation with its 16 international partners, to serve 
as a unique laboratory in space--one that will finally be equipped with 
its full complement of research facilities, and inhabited by a full 
crew of six astronauts and researchers.
  Three years ago, the Congress enacted legislation which, among many 
other things, designated the U.S. portion of the space station--and the 
roughly fifty percent of our partner-built laboratories that we are 
allocated in exchange for launching and operating the station and its 
modules--as a National Laboratory. Already we are seeing the interest 
in using those unique orbiting facilities increase, as Memoranda of 
Understanding have been signed between NASA and the National Institutes 
of Health and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to pave the way for 
their use of those facilities for research that will benefit life on 
Earth. Other agreements have been signed and more are under 
development. The research future of the space station is beginning to 
shine brighter than it has in recent years.
  NASA is preparing itself to turn its own focus outward from the 
Earth, once it has completed paving the way for others to carry forward 
the utilization of the space station and low-earth orbit. This 
legislation, like its predecessor in 2005, underscores the 
congressional commitment to see that new mission move forward--and even 
more quickly than currently planned, in terms of developing the 
postshuttle vehicles that will enable that new Vision for Exploration.
  I am especially pleased that this legislation includes the clear 
recognition of a unique and important facility in my own State--the 
Michoud Assembly Facility--the important role it will play in the 
development and production of the space shuttle replacement vehicles, 
as it has done for over a quarter of a century in the space shuttle 
program. It includes language that will help to clarify the details of 
that role, for Michoud and for the other NASA facilities and Centers 
that most directly support human space launch development and 
operations, such as the nearby Stennis Research Center, the Marshall 
Space flight Center, Johnson Space Center, and, of course the Kennedy 
Space Center.
  All of these facilities--and their extremely talented and capable 
employees--are facing what could be a difficult transition, as one 
system winds down and another grows up to take its place. This 
legislation demonstrates that the Congress is aware of the fear and 
uncertainty that can accompany such a transition, and includes initial 
steps we have taken to mitigate these concerns and address the impacts 
of such redirection of work and skills. We must act quickly and 
effectively to minimize the disruption of jobs--and people's lives and 
livelihood. Some of those impacts are already being felt, in Michoud 
and other facilities, as certain of the activities to support the space 
shuttle program are already winding down. The legislation includes 
language to help us know, well in advance, when more of those kinds of 
changes will occur, so that we can monitor them and ensure the tools 
and resources are in place to deal with them.
  We have also been able to address the situation that has arisen 
recently as

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the result of concerns about availability of Soyuz vehicles to ensure 
we can have crew access to the space station--and a crew escape 
capability should it ever become necessary for the crew to quickly 
return to Earth. While specific steps are being taken in other 
legislation to address this issue, which is outside the jurisdiction of 
the Commerce Committee, our bill will ensure we will retain the option, 
at least, to continue space shuttle flights for some period of time, 
should that prove to be necessary to ensure effective use of the space 
station. The bill ensures that such an option is preserved, at least 
until the end of April, next year, so that the new administration and 
the Congress will have time to consider the need or desirability of 
taking that step. And the bill includes a provision that will ensure 
the Congress will have the results of a study already under way within 
NASA, which would identify and quantify a range of options for 
continued shuttle operations over a range of time periods.
  An important message this legislation is intended to send is that 
NASA should have the resources it needs to carry out the unique and 
valuable programs that it is asked to conduct for the American people. 
Those programs include a wide range of activity beyond human 
spaceflight. Space Science, such as carried out by the Hubble Space 
Telescope and the other Great Observatories, and the incredible success 
of Martian rovers and interplanetary probes, are not only exciting and 
thrilling to watch, but, like their human spaceflight counterparts, 
help inspire entire generations to pursue science, technology, 
engineering and mathematics in school--and help guarantee the Nation's 
strong leadership role in the global community of nations. NASA's Earth 
science programs provide answers about our own spaceship Earth that are 
essential to help us understand and use the resources our earthy home 
wisely and understand the true nature of our impact on the environment, 
and ways we can help mitigate those impacts responsibly.

  Research in advanced concepts in aeronautics carried out by NASA 
plays a key role in ensuring the safe and efficient operations of our 
aviation industry, and in identifying the new technologies and systems 
that will drive the future developments of aeronautics systems and 
vehicles that we cannot even imagine today.
  In short, the legislation provides a balanced level of funding and 
emphasis on all of NASA's key missions. To do all of these things, we 
have increased the authorized funding levels for NASA more than $2 
billion above the amount requested for fiscal year 2009. We do not do 
so with the expectation that such an increased level of funding will be 
able to be appropriated. We understand the fiscal challenges we all 
face and I am among those who has and will always stand for reducing 
the size of government and ensuring that the government moves more in 
the direction of doing only those things that cannot be done by the 
private sector.
  I believe that what NASA does, when it works at the leading edge of 
science and exploration, is doing things that no other entity, public 
or private, can do. We must be sure to always be alert, however, for 
opportunities for NASA to help private and commercial entities use the 
new technologies and techniques developed in research to place 
themselves in a position to move into areas once seen as the purview of 
NASA--such as the commercial orbital space transportation system, 
intended to enable private entities to provide launch and cargo--and 
one day crew--delivery to and from the International Space Station. 
This legislation includes provisions to help ensure the expanded 
development of a commercial space industry that can effectively--and 
economically--operate in both low-earth orbit and eventually 
participate in the exploration of the Moon--and beyond.
  I believe we need to view the funds authorized to accomplish NASA's 
objectives more as investments than simply expenditures. We have had 50 
years of experience which demonstrates that money invested in NASA 
programs yields technology gains and scientific excellence that has 
provided massive returns on that investment. One doesn't have to look 
very far to see the benefits to mankind from those programs. To list 
them all--even the obvious ones--would take volumes.
  In years past, there have been efforts by private economic experts to 
quantify the value returned to the economy of this Nation from the 
product of NASA research and exploration. Those estimates have ranged 
from $7 to $9 returned to the economy for every dollar spent by NASA. 
Such estimates are hard to prove beyond a shadow of doubt and are based 
on assumptions that mayor may not be valid. But even if they are wildly 
exaggerated, and the return on investment is only something like $1 
back to the economy for every dollar spent. How many government 
programs could one say that about?
  I have described some of what I believe to be the very important and 
positive aspects of the legislation and the agency programs and 
initiatives it supports. We also have important and difficult issues 
that will need to be addressed which we have not been able to fully 
deal with in this bill. Many people are deeply concerned about the fact 
that, between the retirement of the space shuttle, planned for 2010, 
and the availability of the Ares 1 Rocket and the Orion Crew 
Exploration vehicle, there could be a 3- to 6-year gap, during which 
this nation would not have the capability to independently launch 
humans into space. That this period of time--however long it proves to 
be--would begin, under the present plan, precisely at the time we have 
finally completed the space station and it is available for research 
and scientific uses, makes that gap even less acceptable. It makes 
little sense for us not to be able to get U.S. scientists and 
astronauts there to conduct the long-awaited research that can only be 
done in that unique microgravity environment.
  As I mentioned we have attempted to address part of that problem in 
language and authorized funding that would accelerate the development 
of shuttle replacement vehicles. That addresses the ``back end'' of the 
gap. But I would like to have seen more flexibility in the bill to 
enable the assessment of other options, besides extension of the 
shuttle program, or even in combination with that, to develop 
alternative capabilities in the short-term. We were unable to preserve 
the flexibility we had started with in our reported bill during the 
preconferencing and negotiations with the House leading to the 
agreement on the language we are presenting today. But I hope we will 
be able to more thoughtfully and fully address that issue as we begin 
next year to develop the next NASA Reauthorization Act.
  I believe this legislation represents a strong and important message 
of support for ensuring the United States maintains its leadership 
position in space exploration. I remind my colleagues that the 
substitute amendment we are offering has been fully agreed to in 
advance by the House Science Committee, and the amended House bill can 
be swiftly accepted by the House when we return it to them, and sent to 
the President before this Congress adjourns for the year. I urge my 
colleagues to support passage of our substitute amendment to the House 
bill.

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