Dana Rohrabacher: “My amendment calls for a study analyzing our approach to third-party liability with regard to spaceflight participants.…”

“My amendment calls for a study analyzing our approach to third-party liability with regard to spaceflight participants. The study will identify issues, options to address those issues, consequences of those options, and the potential cost to the Federal Government for each option. I would note that the idea for this study was originally put forward by Ms. Edwards of Maryland, someone whom I deeply admire and listen to when she makes her points. We heard her make her points during discussion with our committee, and I felt it was a very good idea, and I am moving forward with it today. The underlying bill includes a legislative fix for third-party liability and spaceflight participants. That is what our bill does. However, a study would see if there is even a better way or if we have covered all of our bases with the fix that is in this bill. Right now, a spaceflight participant is financially at risk if the vehicle they fly on has some kind of an incident. It doesn't matter if you are a billionaire or someone who has scrimped for a long time to get one of these spaceflights, maybe a contest winner or a science teacher who wants to share his experience with students or a scientist accompanying their experiment. Right now, these folks aren't just paying the fare; they are potentially risking everything that their family owns because they may be liable if something goes wrong.…”