Political Quotes

“I thank Mr. Morelle for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support the rule and the underlying bills. I am pleased to see the House make significant progress this week by passing these appropriations bills which include important funding for my district, our communities, and for people all across the country. I do want to highlight two bipartisan amendments made in order under this rule which I have offered to H.R. 4505, the Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations bill. First is amendment No. 43, which I introduced with Representatives Brian Babin, Chrissy Houlahan, and Donald Norcross. Our amendment would elevate the Office of Space Commerce by moving it out of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and into the Office of the Secretary of Commerce. This relatively small office has growing responsibilities to license remote sensing activities or satellite imagery of the Earth and implement a pilot program on space situational awareness. Elevating this office would better leverage the expertise of the entire department to support their work and improve interagency collaboration, which is critical to their responsibilities. This proposal has been discussed for years, and it is time to finally make this move. I look forward to working with my colleagues on the Science, Space, and Technology Committee to further define these new roles and responsibilities. I also want to highlight another bipartisan amendment No.…”