[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 152 (Tuesday, October 20, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H11470-H11472]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     EXTENSION OF COMMERCIAL SPACE TRANSPORTATION LIABILITY REGIME

  Mr. GORDON of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
pass the bill (H.R. 3819) to extend the commercial space transportation 
liability regime.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.

[[Page H11471]]

  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 3819

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

     SECTION 1. COMMERCIAL SPACE TRANSPORTATION LIABILITY REGIME 
                   EXTENSION.

       Section 70113(f) of title 49, United States Code, is 
     amended by striking ``December 31, 2009.'' and inserting 
     ``December 31, 2012.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. Gordon) and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Ehlers) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Tennessee.


                             General Leave

  Mr. GORDON of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that 
all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their 
remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 3819, the bill now 
under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Tennessee?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. GORDON of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak in strong support of H.R. 3819, a 
bill to extend the current commercial space transportation liability 
regime.
  First established by Congress as part of the Commercial Space Launch 
Act Amendments of 1988, the commercial space transportation risk-
sharing liability and insurance regime has been extended four times 
since its original enactment. The current extension expires on December 
31 of this year, and it is therefore important for Congress to act now 
so that there is sufficient time for this legislation to make its way 
to the President before the current authority expires.
  The liability and insurance regime that would be extended by this 
legislation is three-tiered and was originally modeled on the Price-
Anderson Act that governs liability risk-sharing under the nuclear 
power industry. Under the regime, commercial space launch providers 
licensed by the U.S. Government are required to provide third-party 
liability insurance to compensate for maximum probable losses from 
third-party claims up to a level of $500 million. For claims above 
those maximum probable losses, the U.S. Government may pay successful 
liability claims up to $1.5 billion in 1989 dollars above the insurance 
level, subject to funds being appropriated by Congress for that 
purpose.

                              {time}  1445

  Finally, for successful claims above those amounts, the licensee 
assumes responsibility for payment.
  To date, not a single dollar has had to be appropriated by the U.S. 
Government to pay third-party claims, but the existence of the 
liability risk-sharing regime has enabled the development and 
sustainment of a commercial space launch industry in the U.S., 
including the emergence of several new companies in recent years.
  In addition, the regime has allowed U.S. companies to remain 
competitive with their international counterparts, almost all of whose 
governments provide similar or more generous risk-sharing liability 
regimes to that of the U.S.
  I should note that, in the Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act of 
2004, we directed that there be an independent review of the current 
risk-sharing regime to see whether or not it was working and whether it 
needed to be continued or passed, and that review was completed in 
2006. I think a number of the review's findings bear mentioning; and, 
therefore, I will quote a couple of those.
  First of all: ``Private liability insurance capacity remains fragile 
and far below what would be needed to compensate for government 
indemnification if it were eliminated.''
  Secondly: ``Foreign competition has increased, and all credible 
international competitors have risk-sharing schemes rivaling or 
surpassing that of the U.S.''
  Finally: ``The current regime has become the industry standard. Its 
elimination could send the wrong signal to international customers and 
competitors and would be a negative factor in the competition for 
global launch business.''
  In sum, the commercial space transportation liability and insurance 
regime has worked. It has not cost the American taxpayers a single 
dollar in claims payments to date. It has strengthened U.S. 
competitiveness in commercial space launch, and it is not a blank 
check, since any potential claims payments must be subject to prior 
congressional appropriation. The bill before us today extends the 
liability risk-sharing regime for a period of 3 years.
  As Members may know, there currently is debate on the potential role 
to be played by would-be commercial providers of crew transportation to 
the international space station. At present, no such commercial crew 
transportation systems exist. Before a meaningful decision can be made 
on the potential role of commercially provided crew transportation in 
meeting governmental needs, important policy and safety issues will 
have to be addressed.
  The most optimistic projections of the would-be commercial providers 
are that it will be at least 3 years before such crew transportation 
systems could be developed, and many independent observers argue it 
will be longer than that. Therefore, the duration of the extension 
contained in this bill is limited so as not to prejudge the outcome of 
the deliberations on those policy and safety issues or to take a 
position on the role to be played by commercial crew transportation 
systems.
  So, Mr. Speaker, in closing, I would like to thank Ranking Member 
Ralph Hall, Space and Aeronautics Chairwoman Gabrielle Giffords, and 
subcommittee Ranking Member Pete Olson for cosponsoring this important 
legislation. I want to extend my thanks to Dick Obermann, who is the 
staff director for our subcommittee, and his very good team.
  This is a good bipartisan bill, and I urge Members to support it.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. EHLERS. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3819, extending the 
current commercial space transportation liability regime through the 
end of 2012.
  The economic competitiveness of the U.S. commercial launch industry 
is vital to our national interests. Domestic commercial launch services 
are an integral part of our Nation's infrastructure and high-technology 
economy. Commercial launch services are used to launch a variety of 
U.S. civil and national security payloads, including communications, 
weather, remote sensing, GPS, and other systems. We can scarcely 
imagine a society today which does not need to have those particular 
devices available.
  The current commercial space launch indemnification regime has been 
in place since 1988 and has been renewed four times. It has helped 
protect U.S. commercial launch providers against catastrophic third-
party liability when conducting FAA-licensed launch activities. Since 
its inception, there has never been a loss that would trigger this 
regime, and Congress has never had to appropriate any funds.
  By ensuring adequate liability coverage, this system has strengthened 
U.S. competitiveness in a global space launch market, and it has 
enabled private-sector investment to develop new entries into the 
market. In other words, this regime has worked well by not being used. 
It has cost nothing, and it has given our space enterprises a big 
boost.
  Over the last 20 years, competition from foreign launch providers, 
including China, France, India, and Russia, has grown significantly. At 
the same time, the overall number of launch opportunities has 
decreased. The commercial space transportation liability regime enables 
U.S. launch providers to operate without ``betting the company'' with 
every launch. In a competitive market with narrow returns, this has 
been a vital link in strengthening this vital industry.
  I join with the Chair of the Science Committee in urging my 
colleagues to support the U.S. commercial launch industry and to vote 
for H.R. 3819.
  Mr. EHLERS. I have no other speakers, so I yield back the balance of 
my time.
  Mr. GORDON of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my 
time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by

[[Page H11472]]

the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Gordon) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 3819.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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