Timothy Roemer: “the reason I ask that is, in reading through the report language on the VA-HUD bill, on page 88 we have references to…”

“the reason I ask that is, in reading through the report language on the VA-HUD bill, on page 88 we have references to the Russian program assurance. We have had a Russian contingency fund. We have had a Russian program assurance fund. Here we are talking about $200 million because the Russians are delayed and behind schedule. It is completely opposite of the stellar success that we have had on Mars Pathfinder. I met with the director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory this morning here in Washington and we discussed the wonderful success of NASA in putting the Rover on Mars. They stayed within a $267 million budget and they did phenomenal things for the country and for science and technology. But with this bill, this Russian assurance program, we are turning this bill more and more into a foreign aid, a back door foreign aid program for Russia. I do not mind helping out Russia. I do not mind making sure, Mr. Chairman, that we keep Russian scientists from helping rogue countries develop nuclear weapons. But let us deal with that in the foreign relations and foreign affairs legislation that comes before this body.”