On the recordApril 14, 2010
President Obama will be speaking this week at the Kennedy Space Center. And while the President's budget cancels the Constellation program, it also jeopardizes NASA's Michoud facility, which is the premiere manufacturing facility with the unique capabilities and skilled workforce that can't just be rebuilt again once it's wound down. The United States should not retreat from the space race. It not only threatens our national security, but it also makes us beholden to foreign countries. In fact, just last week a Japanese newspaper said, ``Once the leader in space development, the United States' space exploration policies are now drifting aimlessly.'' And they later went on to note that the clear winner from this retreat will be Russia. Now, we should not cede our space exploration superiority to countries like Russia or anybody else. It jeopardizes our national security. It's a bad policy. The President needs to reconsider.
