David Weldon: “Today Congress takes definitive action on addressing the recommendations in the Cox Report. My amendment addresses the…”

“Today Congress takes definitive action on addressing the recommendations in the Cox Report. My amendment addresses the issue that was the catalyst for the establishment of the Select Committee--the transfer of missile technology under the commercial satellite launch agreements. One of the principle reasons American satellites were being launched from communist China is due to the fact that our national launch ranges (the Eastern and Western Range) could not accommodate these launches-- they simply did not have the capacity. This is because our ranges are operating under a tight budget with outdated equipment and they are unable to reduce turnaround time. Turnaround time is the amount of time it takes to reconfigure the range from one launch to the next launch. With the appropriation of $7.3 million for an additional crew at the Eastern and Western range will cut turnaround time in half. This will lead to a 20% to 30% increase in American launch capacity. This will immediately translate into 9 more launches taking place from American soil rather than from countries like China. Providing this funding is the most important thing we can do in the short-term to reduce launches from foreign soil and keep them in the U.S. Adoption of this amendment will have a direct and immediate positive impact. This is probably the best bang we will get for our buck in addressing the issues raised in the Cox Report. This is not the long-term solution.”