Donna Edwards

I think we have come a long way since then, and so I really wanted to be able to salute NASA and NOAA.

I have waited six years on this Committee to hear that, and I want to thank our witnesses and obviously our Chairpersons and Ranking Members.

We still have some challenges obviously and possibilities for gaps in coverage, and so that remains a concern for the Committee.

I think it is going to take some combination of funding ideas.

We are going to have to pay for our infrastructure, or you are going to have to watch for blocks of concrete falling on your vehicles.

Increasing NASA's budget to allow increasing the human spaceflight budget by five percent per year would enable pathways with potentially viable mission rates, greatly reducing technical, cost, and schedule risk.

I am impressed with how much progress has been made on these programs given these constraints.

We have set a long-term goal of a House-passed NASA Authorization Act of 2014 of sending humans to Mars.

Congress has been supportive of SLS and Orion and has appropriated funding above the President's requests.

I want to join Chairman Palazzo in congratulating NASA, Lockheed, United Launch Alliance, and the entire government and contractor team on successfully conducting the Exploration Flight Test, EFT-1, of the Orion capsule last week.

I encourage our colleagues in the Senate to seek quick passage of the House-passed NASA Authorization Act of 2014.

I believe that this test flight shows Americans that tangible progress is in fact being made on returning humans to exploration beyond our Earth's neighborhood.

We cannot have one set of goals for NASA and for our human exploration programs and then not match those goals with the resources.

This test flight shows Americans that tangible progress is being made on returning humans to exploration beyond our Earth's neighborhood.

I just think it is about the dumbest way to do science.

The development of the Space Launch System-SLS-and the Orion crew vehicle are necessary next steps in reaching our goals for human space exploration.

the Majority's 'do nothing' plan is the real example of 'failure by design.'

We must answer their call and act.

I think that we could not be dealing with any more important issue than this discussion right here and we need to get off the dime on the politics because we are losing ground every single day.

the Majority's 'do nothing' plan is a real example of failure by design.

EPA's proposal, like the rest of the President's Climate Action Plan, is a bold step forward our Nation needs.

Cutting carbon emissions from the power sector is critical to any effort to address climate change.

What this means to me is that we are getting real value from our investments in planetary science.

I think that we share that concern and the authorization that passed in this Committee we established an authorization level that was actually consistent with what the appropriation was.

I look forward to working with you on ensuring that Congress provides the resources NASA needs for all of its mission areas.