James Oberstar: “Mr. Speaker, we are engaged in a most extraordinary process here. The chairman of the subcommittee just now said, at the…”

“Mr. Speaker, we are engaged in a most extraordinary process here. The chairman of the subcommittee just now said, at the last minute, now we are confronted with proposals for regulation. Well, at the last minute, we have this bill before us. If the gentleman were concerned, Mr. Speaker, about including those who are concerned about safety in flight, the Members on this side of the aisle would have been included much earlier on in this process. The bill was not even introduced until yesterday. We did not have a copy of an introduced bill to look at until yesterday afternoon or evening. That is not the way we work on our Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. We at least include both parties in discussions. Now, I want my colleagues to understand the language of this bill. On page 13, line 17: 'Safety regulations. The Secretary may issue regulations governing the design or operation of a launch vehicle to protect the health and safety of crew and space flight participants.' But, 'Regulations issued under this subsection shall be limited to restricting or prohibiting design features or operating practices that have resulted in a serious or fatal injury to crew or space flight participants.' Is the gentleman going to include on the space flight ticket the disclaimer there has been no safety provided until after you are dead?”