Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, at this hour the ailing Russian astronaut Tsibliyev is aboard the Mir space station awaiting help in outer space to see if an American astronaut, Michael Foale, can take charge to make critical repairs to the space station. As often happens in the universe, the drama in the sky above mirrors that on the Earth below, because we are faced with the possible elimination of $100 million in the fiscal year 1998 appropriations for NASA's Russian Program assurance activities. This $100 million is needed to continue NASA's contingency against Russian delay in the delivery of the International Space Station service module. The majority of these funds will be spent in the United States to develop and modify hardware needed to ensure that the International Space Station will be built on time. The elimination of these funds would put the program at risk and delay the critical research that is being planned for the space station. Mr. Chairman, NASA has made significant progress towards the on-orbit assembly of this unique international research facility.”