On the recordMay 4, 2022
Madam President, I rise today to explain my position on Senator Sanders' motion to instruct conferees to remove language from any final conference report of the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act and the America COMPETES Act that would provide $10 billion for NASA to develop a second Human Landing System. California has long been the epicenter of the global aerospace and commercial space industries, and I am proud of the many technical and scientific advancements made by California scientists and engineers. The bills that the conference committee will consider are intended to ensure that the innovation in aerospace in California and beyond has the support needed to maintain the United States' global competitive edge and lead scientific advancement. When the Senate passed the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act last summer, I was concerned that section 2614 of the bill would circumvent the competitive process at the heart of Federal procurement and undermined NASA's existing contract for the Artemis Human Landing System. By that time, NASA had already completed a contract review and award for the Artemis program for the development of a landing system, selecting the proposal by SpaceX. The SpaceX bid not only received the highest rating for its technical aspects and management approach, it also had the lowest price.…





