John B. Breaux: “I take the time today, Mr. President and my colleagues, to introduce a bill which I happen to think addresses a very…”

“I take the time today, Mr. President and my colleagues, to introduce a bill which I happen to think addresses a very important issue that this Nation is facing; and that is the question of trying to devise a system where the United States can continue to be the world's leader in the space launch business. Every day, every month, more and more satellites around the world are being put into service. I daresay that most people really do not follow the details of how this is accomplished, but I do know that over the last several months people in this country have heard a great deal about Chinese rockets, Ukrainian rockets, Russian rockets and all the problems that they have been involved with related to the U.S. aerospace industry. One may wonder, why would a U.S. company have to use a Ukraine launch vehicle or a Chinese launch vehicle or a Russian launch vehicle or a European launch vehicle in order to launch a U.S. satellite to serve the technological and communications needs of the world. The reason is not that hard to figure out when you look at the fact that these countries that I just mentioned are not countries that are under the same economic obligations that we are.”