James Oberstar: “Yes, this bill was considered by the House earlier this year, but without this language; without any reference to safety…”

“Yes, this bill was considered by the House earlier this year, but without this language; without any reference to safety and without any consideration. And I disagree that there is no protection if this language were stricken. Under current law, and I am familiar with the commercial space flight activities of DOT and FAA, under current law, the DOT must issue a license to launch; and in the process of issuing that license to launch can insist on safety regulations if it takes an assertive stance and is concerned about safety of flight for experimental personnel and for commercial passengers. But, again, I come back to our very modest proposal of language that, had we been included in the discussions that have been going on between the Committee on Science in the other body, if our side would have been included, we would have proposed language to prescribe minimum standards necessary for safety of design features and operation of a launch vehicle, taking into account the inherently risky nature of human space flight. We can defeat this bill and come back later tonight with an amended version and fix it, or come back in the next Congress and do it right. Let us not do tombstone safety.”