On the recordMay 21, 2015
I want to thank the majority leader for bringing this forward. This is a vital piece of legislation. The majority leader brings up a subject that is always very important to me. It happened on December 17, 1903. It happened in a little bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio. Two innovators took their invention across part of the country out to a little place in North Carolina in Kitty Hawk, and they flew a man-powered controllable aircraft for the first time. Now, why is that important? It is because the government had thrown a $50,000 grant to get this done, and they couldn't get it done, but two innovators could get it done by nothing other than the brains that they had, the energy, and their two hands. America needs to ensure that it will continue to be the leader in the space industry. Business and innovation want stability, and this bill does just that, by extending the FAA learning period and duration of indemnification to 10 years. When I speak to fifth graders--and I think we all do at least a couple times a year; I try to speak to at least 50 schools a year--but when I talk to the fifth graders, I ask them how long it takes to fly from LA to Tokyo. There is always a 2-hour or a 20-hour or anything like that. I tell them it takes about 10\1/2\ hours. I said: But in your lifetime, it is going to take about an hour and a half. They said: Well, that is great. That is great.…
