David Weldon: “I rise reluctantly to say that I intend to vote no on this bill. My greater concern is just that we are continuing the…”

“I rise reluctantly to say that I intend to vote no on this bill. My greater concern is just that we are continuing the general trend that we have been on for the last 8 years when it comes to our investment in aerospace. At the conclusion of the first Bush administration, aerospace investment for the United States of America, 15 percent of the total Federal R&D went to aerospace. At the conclusion of 8 years of the Clinton administration, it was down to a figure of only 7 percent, only 7 percent of our Federal investment goes into aerospace. Now today that figure is treading down even further. Indeed, this is a critical issue not only for our competitiveness, manufactured products that we make in the United States lead the way in our import/export balance sheet in the area of aerospace; but we are losing that competitive edge. Also, I think this is a critical issue for national security and national defense. Specifically, if you look at this bill, NASA's budget barely keeps pace with inflation.”