[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 52 (Wednesday, April 14, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H2560]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
DO NOT CANCEL AMERICA'S MANNED SPACE PROGRAM
(Mr. CULBERSON asked and was given permission to address the House
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Speaker, the Democrat Congress and this President
have presided over the biggest spending increases in American history,
created more debt than any Congress in the history of the United
States, and passed unprecedented tax increases, so it's not credible to
claim they're cutting taxes.
And there's near unanimous opposition in this Congress to the
President's proposal to cancel America's manned space program. What the
President's proposing would be like privatizing the United States Navy.
Imagine if America had to call up a private contractor and ask if we
could rent the aircraft carrier Harry Truman to go to the Red Sea for a
week. That's what the President's proposing on the manned space
program. That's why there's unanimous opposition.
And, Mr. Speaker, 27 astronauts and NASA leaders have joined together
in a magnificent letter they published in the Orlando Sentinel on
Sunday, that strongly urges the Congress to drop this misguided
proposal that forces NASA out of human space operations for the
foreseeable future. They said, Canceling NASA's human space operations,
after 50 years of unparalleled achievement, makes America mediocre and
will eliminate our leadership in space.
[From the Orlando Sentinel, Apr. 11, 2010]
Dear President Obama: America is faced with the near-
simultaneous ending of the Shuttle program and your recent
budget proposal to cancel the Constellation program. This is
wrong for our country for many reasons. We are very concerned
about America ceding its hard earned global leadership in
space technology to other nations. We are stunned that, in a
time of economic crisis, this move will force as many as
30,000 irreplaceable engineers and managers out of the space
industry. We see our human exploration program, one of the
most inspirational tools to promote science, technology,
engineering and math to our young people, being reduced to
mediocrity. NASA's human space program has inspired awe and
wonder in all ages by pursuing the American tradition of
exploring the unknown.
We strongly urge you to drop this misguided proposal that
forces NASA out of human space operations for the foreseeable
future.
For those of us who have accepted the risk and dedicated a
portion of our lives to the exploration of outer space, this
is a terrible decision. Our experiences were made possible by
the efforts of thousands who were similarly dedicated to the
exploration of the last frontier. Success in this great
national adventure was predicated on well defined programs,
an unwavering national commitment, and an ambitious
challenge. We understand there are risks involved in human
space flight, but they are calculated risks for worthy goals,
whose benefits greatly exceed those risks.
America's greatness lies in her people: she will always
have men and women willing to ride rockets into the heavens.
America's challenge is to match their bravery and acceptance
of risk with specific plans and goals worthy of their
commitment. NASA must continue at the frontiers of human
space exploration in order to develop the technology and set
the standards of excellence that will enable commercial space
ventures to eventually succeed. Canceling NASA's human space
operations, after 50 years of unparalleled achievement, makes
that objective impossible.
One of the greatest fears of any generation is not leaving
things better for the young people of the next. In the area
of human space flight, we are about to realize that fear;
your NASA budget proposal raises more questions about our
future in space than it answers.
Too many men and women have worked too hard and sacrificed
too much to achieve America's preeminence in space, only to
see that effort needlessly thrown away. We urge you to
demonstrate the vision and determination necessary to keep
our nation at the forefront of human space exploration with
ambitious goals and the proper resources to see them through.
This is not the time to abandon the promise of the space
frontier for a lack of will or an unwillingness to pay the
price.
Sincerely, in hopes of continued American leadership in
human space exploration.
Walter Cunningham, Apollo 7; Chris Kraft, Past Director
JSC; Jack Lousma, Skylab 3, STS3; Vance Brand, Apollo-
Soyuz, STS-5, STS-41B, STS-35; Bob Crippen, STS-1,
STS-7, STS-41C, STS-41G, Past Director KSC; Michael D.
Griffin, Past NASA Administrator; Ed Gibson, Skylab 4;
Jim Kennedy, Past Director KSC; Alan Bean, Apollo 12,
Skylab 3; Alfred M. Worden, Apollo 15; Scott Carpenter,
Mercury Astronaut; Glynn Lunney, Gemini-Apollo Flight
Director; Jim McDivitt, Gemini 4, Apollo 9, Apollo
Spacecraft Program Manager; Gene Kranz, Gemini-Apollo
Flight Director, Past Director NASA Mission Ops.; Joe
Kerwin, Skylab 2; Fred Haise, Apollo 13, Shuttle
Landing Tests; Gerald Carr, Skylab 4; Jim Lovell,
Gemini 7, Gemini 12, Apollo 8, Apollo 13; Jake Garn,
STS-51D, U.S. Senator; Charlie Duke, Apollo 16; Bruce
McCandless, STS-41B, STS-31; Frank Borman, Gemini 7,
Apollo 8; Paul Weitz, Skylab 2, STS-6; George Mueller,
Past Associate Administrator For Manned Space Flight;
Harrison Schmitt, Apollo 17, U.S. Senator; Gene Cernan,
Gemini 9, Apollo 10, Apollo 17; Dick Gordon, Gemini 11,
Apollo 12.
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