Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today also in support of H.R. 290, the Commercial Remote Sensing Amendment Act of 2023. I am pleased to be an original cosponsor of this legislation, along with the chairman, and I am pleased to serve as ranking member of the committee, a new assignment for me. It was all the way back in 1992 when Congress authorized the Secretary of Commerce to license and regulate commercial remote sensing space systems. Commercial remote sensing is now a vibrant and growing industry. As the chairman has said, data and imagery from commercial remote sensing satellites are used widely in agriculture, disaster monitoring, energy, mapping, and national security applications. In fact, commercial remote sensing has been an important information source for fighting the devastating Western wildland fires, including those in my home State of California. Companies from around the world are launching commercial remote sensing systems and selling the data. According to the Satellite Industries Association, globally, these services reached an estimated $2.7 billion in revenue in 2021. Congress needs to ensure that the United States remains at the cutting edge of this industry and that is why it is important that we have the transparency and insight we need to oversee the licensing and regulation of private remote sensing systems.…”