The Russians, be it the Soviet Union or today, have been doing this kind of stuff for a long time.

This is a whole new magnitude greater.

I want Mr. Whitesides and Mr. Meyerson to be contemplating the need to streamline the regulatory process for the growing commercial launch industry.

We would strongly recommend that a transition plan be created that is committed to a continuous presence in low Earth orbit for persistent microgravity platforms.

So how can we improve the ISS as an incubator to help enterprises such as yours, and do you see that it needs to be extended beyond the existing life, which is 2024?

SpaceX, for example, told me in a few years, they expect to be--just SpaceX--launching 40 launches a year just from the Cape.

The key to success is continuing a balanced space program, one that does not neglect science nor aeronautics.

This Senator is so excited to see the abandoned launch pads at Cape Canaveral...coming back to life.

We must prioritize safety and security in our space endeavors.

I was the last crew member to crawl in and strap in, and as they were getting in, I wandered off on that launch tower by myself.

I would say, in closing, Mr. Chairman, that, shortly, we expect the Vice President to be announced as the head of a re-established Space Council in the White House.

It's a dual course of the commercial as well as NASA and then getting out of low Earth orbit and going to explore the heavens.

The Nation marshaled the resources and met that goal.

I am looking forward to that happening again now that we passed the NASA authorization bill.

There had to be a little prayer session, and we had to drag them to the altar to have that prayer session.

Nor a border adjustment tax.

the destruct system that previously was always done by the Air Force...has on some of the commercial activities and launches been replaced with an autonomous flight safety system.

That seems like a no-brainer, and I think the vast majority of American people believe that when the government enters into these settlement agreements, those funds are reserved solely to compensate the actual victims.