[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 6074]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



   MILLIONAIRE'S TRIP TO SPACE STATION IS LATEST EXAMPLE OF RUSSIANS 
                  TAKING NASA'S MANAGEMENT TO CLEANERS

  (Mr. SENSENBRENNER asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today disappointed by the news 
that NASA has again acquiesced to inappropriate Russian demands to the 
Space Station program. Russia will be sending Dennis Tito, a 60-year-
old American millionaire, as one of its contributions to this week's 
mission to the Space Station.
  What unique characteristics does Mr. Tito possess that earned his 
place on this mission? Cold hard cash. $20 million of it from Mr. Tito 
to the Russians is all it took for a rocket-powered trip to the Space 
Station. Unfortunately, this partnership based on a core scientific 
mission apparently is now the next Club Med for those able to pony up 
millions of dollars to the Russian Government.
  So how is it that the Russians, whose Station nonperformance cost the 
U.S. taxpayers at least 2 years' delay and over $5 billion in cost 
overruns, can brazenly increase the safety risk of the entire mission? 
They can because NASA's management did not provide the necessary 
safeguards earlier in this so-called partnership. NASA's forced 
acquiescence to Russia regarding Mr. Tito is just the latest example of 
the Russians taking NASA's management to the cleaners.

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