Bill Nelson

As the STRATCOM commander, my concern... is what impact this decision might have on the industrial base as we look to the future.

I think that it was significant, from a policy standpoint.

How can anyone believe it makes sense to follow this plan for purely budgetary reasons?

Those who fly aboard the shuttle, the Soyuz, or, I'm sure, the Shenzhou, know that reality.

The Nation's space programs... are known to have been the most consistent and effective 'engine of excellence' in technology, innovations and science for the past 50 years.

I believe, for this Nation to not abandon all of the investments made in the Constellation program.

Ares is the safest system. Nothing else comes close.

Let me remind you just why they cannot credibly pretend that an irreversible decision was made that they are simply implementing.

The concerns I have and the current debate about the Obama plan is not about political expediency.

That is why I am so concerned about the Obama administration's response to the Augustine panel report.

The ability of any current COTS design to close the gap or even provide an equivalent degree of safety is speculative.

I strongly support Senator Hutchison's efforts to ensure that a review of space station requirements is conducted.

If Project Constellation is canceled, our Nation will not in the near future be able to travel beyond low-Earth orbit.

The Bush administration failed to request the amounts it had originally projected to support the Vision for Exploration.

To abandon Ares I as a baseline vehicle for an alternative, without demonstrated capability nor proven superiority, or even equivalence, is unwise and probably not cost-effective.

I believe that has been reflected in the findings of the 'Gathering Storm' report, prepared several years ago under the leadership of Norm Augustine.

If Project Constellation is cancelled, our Nation's objective of sending an astronaut to Mars will be replaced with the fleeting hope that one day, some day, we will be able to explore the cosmos again.

He has chosen not to continue those operations, and so that decision--and the consequences that may follow from it, are, and will always be, his responsibility.

Space exploration has always been a bipartisan effort, and it should continue to be so.

We will have lost the many years required to re-create the equivalent of what will be discarded.

I'm hopeful, as well.

Yes, and perhaps bring in Admiral Olson's folks on that as well.

Tell us how it's going to be organized, who's going to participate, how are they going to be trained, and what is the needed funding.

I think what they're waking up to is, if a terrorist attack can occur in the Moscow subway, it can occur anyplace.

All of the areas that the Soviet Union had nuclear material and weapons, outside of what is today Russia, you feel good about a lockdown?