[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5472]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   DON'T RETREAT FROM THE SPACE RACE

  (Mr. SCALISE asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SCALISE. Mr. Speaker, President Obama will be speaking this week 
at the Kennedy Space Center. And while the President's budget cancels 
the Constellation program, it also jeopardizes NASA's Michoud facility, 
which is the premiere manufacturing facility with the unique 
capabilities and skilled workforce that can't just be rebuilt again 
once it's wound down.
  The United States should not retreat from the space race. It not only 
threatens our national security, but it also makes us beholden to 
foreign countries. In fact, just last week a Japanese newspaper said, 
``Once the leader in space development, the United States' space 
exploration policies are now drifting aimlessly.'' And they later went 
on to note that the clear winner from this retreat will be Russia.
  Now, we should not cede our space exploration superiority to 
countries like Russia or anybody else. It jeopardizes our national 
security. It's a bad policy. The President needs to reconsider.

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