[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 18]
[House]
[Page 24399]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            NASA TECHNOLOGY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Posey) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POSEY. As we face the risk of ceding our leadership in space to 
Russia, China, and other countries, I want to take a moment to review 
many of the benefits of space exploration that everyone enjoys, even 
though many of them may take it for granted.
  The typical American home contains dozens and dozens of inventions 
from America's investment in space. That flat-screen TV was developed 
from NASA technology. The furniture or drapes that are fire-resistant 
material, that may be attributed to NASA's fire safety research. If 
your home security system uses a push-button panel and intrusion 
detectors in the windows, you benefited from space exploration.
  If your home is equipped with carbon monoxide sensors and fire 
detectors, then you've benefited from America's space program. If you 
enjoy using scratch-resistant lenses in your glasses, then--you've 
guessed it--you've benefited from the space program.
  Chances are you enjoy using batteries, cell phones, laptops, 
calculators, even Velcro. If so, you've benefited from our space 
exploration. If you appreciate the clean, crisp water in your glass, 
you may be interested to know that every home water filter came about 
thanks to America's space program.
  That cooler used on a trip to the beach, a picnic, or a camping trip 
relies on space-based technology to keep your food and drinks cool. 
Solar technology used to power your hot water heaters and other home 
appliances owe their existence to America's space exploration. And if 
you're keeping an eye on time by looking at your quartz-based watch, 
you will want to credit the space program for that, too.
  If you plan on enjoying some golf or other sports this weekend, 
remember that our space program gave rise to the plastics and the 
graphites used most commonly in sports and safety equipment.
  These are but a few of the many contributions that have arisen from 
our Nation's space program. If we want to keep America strong 
economically and maintain the military high ground, we must not cede 
our leadership in space to our competitors.
  As most of us know, the President promised that he would close the 
gap between our space shuttle program and our constellation program. We 
all need to be committed to helping the President of the United States 
keep his word.
  He also promised that he would see that America remained first in 
space. And we must also do our level best to help the President keep 
that promise, too.

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