Political Quotes

“I thank Senator Gardner. Indeed, this is an example of the Senate working together. There is, simply, a problem in the bill that was passed. It is a technical problem, but it goes to the heart of our military- civilian space program. It goes to the heart of the cooperation that we have had with Russia that goes back to the Soviet Union days when, in fact, in 1975, in the middle of the Cold War, a crew from America rendezvoused and docked with the crew from the Soviet Union. Ever since that crew, which was led by Lt. Gen. Tom Stafford, of the United States, and General Alexey Leonov, of the Soviet Union, we have had cooperation in space, and that program continues today on the International Space Station. Before I get into talking about the details of the amendment, as Senator Gardner has discussed so well already, I hope that the Senate will treat it as technical in nature because it corrects what was not intended. Unless corrected, it will be disastrous not only for NASA but for all of the burgeoning commercial space industry, which we are bringing back to America. What has happened over the last four decades, in the meantime, is that a lot of that commercial space industry has flown the coop to other launchers from other nations. But it is coming back to America. prayers for the Victims of the Congressional Baseball Practice Shooting Mr.…”