Political Quotes

“I rise in opposition to the amendment. The cross-agency support account is not free money. It's not a place that you can just--I think they ought to change the name, ``cross- agency support.'' That's like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, it's kind of cheap grace; you can just kind of go someplace and get some money there because it's just a cross-agency support account. Why don't we want to cut this cross-agency support account? Because NASA will not be able to absorb this. They will literally not be able to absorb this. This deals with safety, it deals with security, and the mission's success. Cybersecurity measures defend off relentless attacks by China and others. While NASA is a civil Agency, much of its technology has military applications. But let's get it from the cross-agency support account. What does it mean? It doesn't mean anything. Yes, it does. It is a very important function with regard to NASA. Human space flight safety oversight, it comes partly out of that. We have learned the hard way from the Challenger and the Columbia tragedies that relentless attention to safety is necessary. Cuts to this account will hamstring NASA's efforts to minimize the risk of loss of life and property. But, hey, let's go to the cross- agency support account. It doesn't mean anything because nobody cares. Yet it does; it's validation and mission critical software. Medical support services keep astronauts and ground-crew workers healthy.…”