Richard Shelby

I think the prudent financial circumstance is to stay with what we have got instead of plunging into the unknown.

I am doing so because it is the right thing, I believe, for this Nation to not abandon all of the investments made in the Constellation program.

No one in the White House or so far a majority in the Congress, is willing to step up to the plate.

This decision is purely budgetary, and not one... a matter of safety.

The major Achilles Heel of the President's plan.

This plan lacks vision, is unrealistic, and jeopardizes our entire human space exploration program.

The President's budget proposes to reward those failed commercial providers with an additional bailout.

This request represents nothing more than a commercially led, faith-based space program.

To abandon Ares I as a baseline vehicle for an alternative without demonstrated capability nor proven superiority, or even equivalence, is unwise and probably not cost-effective.

I remain steadfast in insisting on safety as the first priority for the space program. Nothing less is acceptable.

While the administration may have realized that its initial budget request was a failure, the new plan from the same team still ends this country's human space flight program.

The President's new plan, like his old one, shows that NASA's leadership team still does not understand the issues at stake.

The administration's proposed rescission of $98 million in funding for the construction of the Terrorist Explosive Device Analytical Center is troubling especially given the FBI's and the JEIDDO commanders support for this facility.

We have had hearings on that in the Banking Committee, and are working with the FBI and the Justice Department on that.

But a lot of that child pornography is paid for through the credit card system, is it not?

But it is a sordid problem, is it not? And it is billions of dollars involved worldwide, is it not?

Child exploitation is a substantial priority for the FBI.

But the key to it is to protect the integrity of the system, is it not, and the evidence that comes from it?

Reducing the DNA backlog is one of the single most important issues facing all of law enforcement in this country.

It is my understanding, Director Mueller, that the volume of submissions to TEDAC has overwhelmed its capacity, resulting in a substantial backlog.

The administration's proposed rescission of $98 million in funding for the Terrorist Explosive Device Analytical Center is troubling.

The threat to the U.S. homeland appears to be increasing.

The White House does not appear to believe the assessment of its own Department of Homeland Security.

It makes no sense to me.

However, the budget request doesn't necessarily reflect that.