[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 99 (Tuesday, June 29, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1228]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      NASA'S CONSTELLATION PROGRAM

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                           HON. RALPH M. HALL

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 29, 2010

  Mr. HALL of Texas. Madam Speaker, I remain very concerned about the 
direction of our Nation's space agency under the Obama plan. This 
Administration has made the surprisingly drastic decision to cancel 
NASA's follow-on to, the space shuttle, the Constellation program. 
Constellation would provide the means to service and use the 
International Space Station, and once again explore beyond low earth 
orbit.
  Canceling the Constellation program threatens our country with the 
potential loss of tens of thousands of highly-skilled and well-paid 
jobs. As important as jobs are right now, by canceling Constellation we 
stand to lose more than just jobs. We are losing American know-how and 
expertise. The NASA contractor team is a national asset, one that would 
be difficult and costly to duplicate.
  Next year with the retirement of the Space Shuttle, the U.S. will 
have no way to launch anyone into space. American astronauts and our 
international partners will have to hitch rides on Russian spacecraft, 
launched from a Russian base, to get into low earth orbit and visit the 
International Space Station. I do not think this is the best plan to 
maintain American preeminence in space.
  I have fought hard here in Congress to defend NASA's budget so that 
they can perform meaningful work. Yet there seems to be a disturbing 
trend at NASA where priorities are shifted away from what I think 
should be their top goal--manned space exploration. Rather than focus 
on the vital elements necessary to maintain American leadership in 
space, the Obama administration and NASA are distracted with programs 
that seem to spend money on anything but human space flight.
  Last week, the administration came forward with a request to transfer 
$100 million out of NASA's already limited human space flight budget 
and give it to the Department of Commerce and the Department of Labor 
to fund an Interagency task force to spur ``regional economic growth 
and job creation'' aimed at helping Florida and other states bracing 
for job losses associated with the end of the space shuttle program. 
Our nation's best and brightest engineers and technicians want to be 
engaged in building rockets and spacecraft. America's space program 
already generates substantial amounts of regional economic growth. It 
does not make sense to kill a program that delivered huge returns on 
investment to create a government program to retrain and retool workers 
for some possible, undefined jobs in the future.
  The announcement the cancellation of the Constellation program in 
favor of a $100 million interagency task force, along with several 
other recently announced NASA initiatives, paints a broad picture of an 
agency without a clear mission.
  NASA is a mission-driven organization that produces its best results 
with clearly defined goals and the resources to achieve them. With the 
retirement of the Space Shuttle and a plan to cancel the Constellation 
program, it is more important than ever that we work together to 
provide NASA with the legislative guidance it needs.
  The men and women of our nation's human space flight program have 
given us so much to be proud of. Through their focus, sacrifice and 
dedication they have enabled the United States to be the global leader 
in human space flight. They have earned our respect and gratitude, and 
we should deliver a program that keeps them, and our nation, focused on 
leading the world in spaceflight.

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