[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 127 (Wednesday, September 19, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H6086-H6088]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 CONFIRMING FULL OWNERSHIP RIGHTS TO ARTIFACTS FROM ASTRONAUTS' SPACE 
                                MISSIONS

  Mr. HALL. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 4158) to confirm full ownership rights for certain United States 
astronauts to artifacts from the astronauts' space missions.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 4158

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

     SECTION 1. DEFINITION OF ARTIFACT.

       For purposes of this Act, the term ``artifact'' means, with 
     respect to an astronaut described in section 2(a), any 
     expendable item utilized in missions for the Mercury, Gemini, 
     or Apollo programs through the completion of the Apollo-Soyuz 
     Test Project not expressly required to be returned to the 
     National Aeronautics and Space Administration at the 
     completion of the mission and other expendable, disposable, 
     or personal-use items utilized by such astronaut during 
     participation in any such program. The term includes personal 
     logs, checklists, flight manuals, prototype and proof test 
     articles used in training, and disposable flight hardware 
     salvaged from jettisoned lunar modules. The term does not 
     include lunar rocks and other lunar material.

     SEC. 2. FULL OWNERSHIP OF ARTIFACTS.

       (a) In General.--A United States astronaut who participated 
     in any of the Mercury, Gemini, or Apollo programs through the 
     completion of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, who received an 
     artifact during his participation in any such program, shall 
     have full ownership of and clear title to such artifact.
       (b) No Federal Government Claim.--The Federal Government 
     shall have no claim or right to ownership, control, or use of 
     any artifact in possession of an astronaut as described in 
     subsection (a) or any such artifact that was subsequently 
     transferred, sold, or assigned to a third party by an 
     astronaut described in subsection (a).

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Hall) and the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Eddie Bernice 
Johnson) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas.


                             General Leave

  Mr. HALL. 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. 4158, the bill now under 
consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Texas?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. HALL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I want to begin by thanking members of the Science, Space, and 
Technology Committee, Republicans and Democrats, for their bipartisan 
support of this legislation. I especially want to commend my good 
friends Lamar Smith and Eddie Bernice Johnson for their help and for 
their early support.
  H.R. 4158 would confirm full ownership rights to our Nation's first 
generation of astronauts who flew during the Mercury, Gemini, and 
Apollo era and who received or were allowed to retain artifacts, 
mementos, and other personal equipment from their missions. H.R. 4158 
covers all flights beginning in 1961 through the Apollo-Soyuz Test 
Project, which flew in July of 1975.
  From the first days of our manned spaceflight program through the 
Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, at the conclusion of a mission NASA managers 
routinely allowed astronauts to keep mementos of their flights. In some 
instances, astronauts were also given certain pieces of expendable 
equipment. The range of items included space suit emblems, expendable 
space suits, checklists, flight manuals, and disposable flight hardware 
salvaged from the jettisoned lunar landers.
  A majority of these items have been in the personal possession of the 
astronauts for 40 years or more. Over the last decade, NASA has begun 
to challenge the astronauts' ownership of these mementos. This issue 
was first brought to my attention late last year. I was surprised to 
learn that NASA had, on an irregular basis, intervened several times to 
claim ownership.
  Early this year, NASA Administrator Bolden met with a small group of 
astronauts to discuss the agency's artifacts policy. Following the 
meeting, through NASA's press office, Administrator Bolden issued a 
statement saying:

       These are American heroes, fellow astronauts, and personal 
     friends who have acted in good faith, and we have committed 
     to work together to find the right policy.

  He went on to say:

       I believe there have been fundamental misunderstandings and 
     unclear policies regarding items from the Mercury, Gemini, 
     Apollo, and Skylab programs, and NASA appreciates the 
     position of the astronauts, museums, learning institutions, 
     and others who have these historic artifacts in personal and 
     private collections.

  This bill seeks to eliminate in any further ambiguity about Apollo-
era artifacts that were received by the astronauts. It simply says that 
astronauts who flew through the end of the Apollo program will be 
granted full right of ownership of any artifacts received from their 
missions. If we don't pass this bill, the artifacts and the astronauts 
face huge financial risks arising from donations, gifts, and sales 
already completed.
  These men are heroes. They're great heroes. Sadly, we had to say 
good-bye to one of these heroes just last week. They took extraordinary 
risks to establish American preeminence in space and, by doing so, 
helped our country become a world leader. I think it's a miscarriage of 
justice that today NASA should seek return of these very same mementos 
and keepsakes.
  I reserve the balance of my time.

                     [From NASA News, Jan. 9, 2012]

   NASA Administrator Meets With Apollo Astronauts; Agency Will Work 
           Cooperatively To Resolve Artifact Ownership Issues

                    (By David Weaver and Bob Jacobs)

       Washington, DC.--The following is a statement from NASA 
     Administrator Charles Bolden regarding the ownership of early 
     space exploration mementos and artifacts:
       ``Earlier today, I had a good meeting with former Apollo 
     astronauts Jim Lovell, Gene

[[Page H6087]]

     Cernan, Charlie Duke, Rusty Schweickart and other 
     representatives of former astronauts and agency personnel, 
     where we discussed how to resolve the misunderstandings and 
     ownership questions regarding flight mementos and other 
     artifacts.
       ``These are American heroes, fellow astronauts, and 
     personal friends who have acted in good faith, and we have 
     committed to work together to find the right policy and legal 
     paths forward to address outstanding ownership questions.
       ``I believe there have been fundamental misunderstandings 
     and unclear policies regarding items from the Mercury, 
     Gemini, Apollo and Skylab programs, and NASA appreciates the 
     position of the astronauts, museums, learning institutions 
     and others who have these historic artifacts in personal and 
     private collections.
       ``We also appreciate their patience and will explore all 
     policy, legislative and other legal means to resolve these 
     questions expeditiously and clarify ownership of these 
     mementos, and ensure that appropriate artifacts are preserved 
     and available for display to the American people.''
                                  ____

                                                  August 16, 2012.
     Hon. Ralph M. Hall,
     Chairman, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, House 
         of Representatives, Washington, DC.
       Dear Congressman Hall: The recent discourse by NASA and the 
     Congress regarding the disposition of artifacts carried on 
     U.S. space flights in the possession of U.S. astronauts has 
     come to my attention and resulted in a discussion between 
     myself and Ms. Shana Dale of your office. She requested that 
     I write a brief summary of the policy we utilized to deal 
     with the issue of personal items to be carried by the flight 
     crews that would later be disseminated or given as gifts to 
     their family, friends and or associates. This policy also 
     dealt with personal articles and other equipment used by the 
     astronauts during the flight.
       It should be noted that this policy was in effect during 
     all of the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and Skylab programs. 
     However, after the questionable behavior of the astronauts 
     regarding other carried articles to be sold or distributed 
     for financial gain on the flight of Apollo 15, the policy was 
     revised and more stringently administered by the NASA 
     management.
       Donald K. Slayton, Assistant Director for Flight Crew 
     Operations was the principal NASA manager for implementing 
     this policy with the approval of the Director of the Manned 
     Spacecraft Center (later the Johnson Space Center) and after 
     Apollo 15 the concurrence of the NASA Administrator.
       The enclosure summarizes the policy discussed above.
           Respectfully,

                                    Christopher C. Kraft, Jr.,

                                                 Retired Director,
     NASA Johnson Space Center.
                                  ____

                                                  August 16, 2012.
       A summary of the NASA policy regarding the astronauts 
     permission to carry personal mementos on the space vehicles 
     they flew and the disposition of equipment on board these 
     vehicles deemed by NASA to be expendable.
       Starting with Project Mercury, NASA astronauts were granted 
     permission to carry specific mementos on the spacecraft they 
     flew. These items were required to be listed and approved by 
     the Director of Flight Crew Operations. The items had to be 
     within a given weight limit and submitted for proper wrapping 
     and storage by the pad support technicians. The astronauts 
     were allowed to disseminate these mementos as they so 
     desired.
       As the space program advanced from Mercury through Apollo 
     the requirements for carrying mementos was altered to assure 
     the weight and the safety met the specific requirements of 
     each program. Further, the Apollo 1 accident demanded a more 
     stringent review of the items and their containment because 
     of the sensitivity of the materials involved relative to 
     combustibility and outgasing.
       When the flights increased in orbital time and certain 
     personal items became expendable the astronauts were granted 
     permission to retain certain personal items such as shaving 
     equipment, underwear, thermal cooling under garments, 
     notebooks and even heavily used and expendable space suits.
       As the complexity of the spacecraft increased, certain 
     items on board the vehicles had particular relevance and 
     meaning to the astronauts and they requested and received 
     permission to keep these pieces of equipment on a case by 
     case basis. In many cases this required a review by agencies 
     such as the Smithsonian Institute since they had the over all 
     responsibility for the U.S. of retaining the equipment that 
     had historical significance. Such items as hand controllers, 
     hand held cameras and computers were in this category.
       It should be noted that in all of the space flights made, 
     items such as flags, plaques and so forth were carried for 
     use by NASA and the U.S. government. These items received a 
     wide distribution and in some cases were given to the 
     astronauts who flew the flight by request for many purposes 
     including gifts to NASA personnel.

  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  I rise in support of H.R. 4158, to confirm full ownership rights for 
certain United States astronauts to artifacts from the astronauts' 
space missions, and I thank the leadership of Mr. Hall and all of the 
cosponsors.
  This is a necessary bill which will protect our iconic early 
astronauts from needless harassment. This bill will ensure that any 
U.S. astronaut who participated in the historic Mercury, Gemini, or the 
Apollo programs will be able to keep the space artifacts which are 
still in their possession from those missions.
  At the time of these missions, it was accepted practice that 
astronauts could keep expendable equipment like checklists and hygiene 
kits as mementos of their missions. However, this was an informal 
policy, and those astronauts lacked paperwork establishing ownership 
over these items.
  This bill will protect those astronauts from any claims made by the 
Federal Government regarding any of these artifacts. Further, the bill 
protects our national interest by ensuring that any lunar rocks or 
other lunar material remain property of the United States.
  While I do support this bill and its passage today, I would be remiss 
if I didn't express my concern about a possible omission. This bill 
does not cover any of the shuttle-era astronauts. The first American 
woman in space and the first African American in space were both 
exclusively shuttle-era astronauts, and there were many other notable 
astronauts during this era.

                              {time}  1530

  I think these astronauts are no less national heroes than the Apollo-
era astronauts and also no less deserving of that protection.
  Now, I understand this is a more difficult issue since NASA has not 
been able to identify when its own internal policies changed regarding 
astronaut artifacts. But I do think we need to figure that out and then 
address those astronauts' situation as soon as possible.
  I do want to thank Mr. Hall for his leadership and for working with 
all of us on this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. HALL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Mississippi (Mr. Palazzo), the chairman of the Space and Aeronautics 
Subcommittee.
  Mr. PALAZZO. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4158. This 
legislation will resolve a conflict that has emerged within NASA over 
the last decade regarding the ownership of artifacts from the Mercury, 
Gemini, and Apollo programs. Left unresolved, as Chairman Hall pointed 
out, astronauts, their families, and those to whom they transferred, 
donated, or sold artifacts may not have clear title to them. If NASA 
persists in its efforts to reacquire these items that were initially 
received by the astronauts 40 years or more ago, significant financial 
consequences could befall them.
  In the 1960s, as NASA began the Mercury program, agency managers 
allowed astronauts to carry a small number of mementos in their 
spacecraft. As the spacecraft became larger and larger and mission 
duration increased, the agency's policy evolved to allow astronauts to 
retain expendable personal gear such as shaving equipment, 
undergarments, notebooks, and expendable space suits.
  During the lunar landing phase of the Apollo program, the policy 
further changed to allow astronauts to retrieve from the lunar lander 
certain pieces of hardware that would have been destroyed had it 
remained in the lander.
  With full knowledge and consent of program managers, the astronauts 
were allowed to fly personal mementos as well as retain certain pieces 
of equipment. It is incredible to me that NASA now wants to penalize 
those who acted in good faith by attempting to retrieve these items.
  H.R. 4158 is a necessary bill to bring closure to the debate and 
uncertainty regarding ownership of a small class of space artifacts. I 
urge all Members to support this legislation.
  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I have no further 
requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. HALL. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my good friend and 
Texas colleague, Science, Space and Technology Committee Chairman Ralph 
Hall, for taking the lead on

[[Page H6088]]

this bill and bringing it to the floor today. My hope is that after the 
House passes this bill the Senate will act quickly and send it to the 
President for his signature.
  The problem this bill addresses is to confirm the ownership of 
mementoes the Apollo astronauts received from their journeys. I was 
first contacted one year ago about this problem by my constituent, 
Apollo 16 moonwalker Charlie Duke, who now lives in New Braunfels, 
Texas and also chairs the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation.
  The Scholarship Foundation is one of the beneficiaries from the sale 
of such artifacts, and they have provided over $3 million in 
scholarships to college students studying science and engineering so 
they too can aspire to be astronauts.
  At the end of the Apollo program, these mementoes were deemed to be 
of little value, and NASA was simply going to throw many of these items 
in the trash heap of history--checklists with scribbled equations and 
calculations in the margins, a camera and other personal effects the 
Apollo astronauts were offered to keep for themselves.
  However, in the intervening 40 years, these mementoes took on a 
greater historical context, just like mementoes from past wars or 
famous people take on greater significance. Unfortunately, over-zealous 
NASA and the Justice Department lawyers recently started filing law 
suits against Apollo astronauts--our American heroes--and started 
questioning their integrity.
  This is wrong. And this bill clarifies the ownership of these 
artifacts in the possession of our astronauts.
  Chairman Hall, thank you for doing the right thing--once again--for 
our astronauts.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hall) that the House suspend the rules and 
pass the bill, H.R. 4158.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the 
yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this question will be postponed.

                          ____________________