Jane Harman: “What a difference a day makes. Yesterday, NASA's Galileo spacecraft beamed back incredible images of Jupiter, our solar…”

“What a difference a day makes. Yesterday, NASA's Galileo spacecraft beamed back incredible images of Jupiter, our solar system's most intriguing planet. Today, however, Members are ready to allow NASA to be caught in the crossfire of another Government shutdown. When I met last week with NASA contractors in my district, they told me that the failure to enact NASA's appropriation would cause devastation and hardship to the region's aerospace industry. Small contractors, who don't have the financial flexibility of their large counterparts, would be particularly hard-hit. Thermal Electronics, Luna Defense Systems, RGA Labs, and Phoenix Engineering will all be forced to lay off--not furlough, but lay off--a substantial percentage of their workers unless we act in a bipartisan manner to immediately enact a NASA appropriation which funds the space station and key science initiatives like the mission to plant Earth. If one adds in Hughes, TRW, Allied Signal, and Cal Tech's Jet Propulsion Lab, we are talking about the possibility of over 10,000 layoffs. Mr. Speaker, we must find common ground and fund NASA now. Our future depends on it.”