Richard Shelby

I think American industry has risen to the occasion when you look at Blue Origin and Jeff Bezos and what he is doing with ULA and the team there, to help develop a new launch system.

We all want to get rid of them, but we have to be measured in how we do it.

I find it disturbing that NASA's true priorities are not better reflected in an honest budget.

The truth is that NASA's request is only $18.26 billion, a cut of $1 billion from what this subcommittee provided in the last fiscal year.

We appreciate your appearance today. We look forward to trying to work with you in putting this appropriation together.

Without these funds, I believe NASA's ability to reach far beyond Earth's orbit is at risk of delay and cost escalation.

The discretionary budget request proposes, which I mentioned in my opening statement, to cut SLS by $770 million, and Orion by $217 million.

The simple fact, I believe, is this: that the administration prioritized funding elsewhere in the Government's budget.

In the area of getting into non-discretionary funding, nearly 5 percent of NASA's budget proposal is comprised of funding gimmicks, I believe, which are contingent upon tax increases and other legislation that is yet or maybe will never be…

You have consistently challenged NASA to be better, and because of your leadership, NASA has better served America's drive for exploring space and making new discoveries.

These cuts, if enacted, would erode ongoing science missions, jeopardize core operations, and delay exploration launches.

An ongoing commitment to a Center of Excellence like the one that we have developed in Connecticut, I think, is a great way to make sure that a small amount of Federal dollars goes a long way towards the coastal resiliency that the…

But how confident are you that the OMB plan that they are holding will do all this?

In the area of the weather satellites, the Department oversees, to my understanding, two flagship weather satellite programs that are critical for forecasting hurricanes, super storms, severe weather outbreaks, and so forth.

Madam Secretary, how confident are you that the fleet plan that OMB is holding will actually meet NOAA's at-sea operational needs?

The goal here is to have ICANN remain and the domain name process remain a multi-stakeholder driven model.

How does construction of a regional class vessel instead of an ocean class vessel affect the time line for replacing NOAA's ships?

The Department's 2017 request totals $9.7 billion. This is $500 million above the 2016 enacted amount and includes some significant steps forward.

I am concerned by the Commerce Inspector General's assessment that the Bureau continues to face challenges in meeting its cost savings goals.

The subcommittee will come to order. Welcome to today's hearing of the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee.

In the area of fishery management, last year the subcommittee provided funding for an independent stock assessment for reef fish in the Gulf of Mexico.

When will this plan be available for the subcommittee to evaluate, to review?

I look forward to working with this subcommittee and the rest of the Congress to achieve these important goals.

I am concerned that the 2017 request will result in the Department trying to pick winners and losers through another closed selection process.

I am discouraged by the delayed launch of the 'GOES-R' satellite from October 2015 to October 2016.