Larry Pressler: “I rise in reluctant opposition to the rescission provisions in title III of the Senate version of H.R. 3759. On the one…”

“I rise in reluctant opposition to the rescission provisions in title III of the Senate version of H.R. 3759. On the one hand, I support cuts to offset spending. On the other hand, I must voice strong objection to rescinding funds for the Landsat satellite in the Department of Defense section of the package. The administration's budget request for fiscal year 1995 contains no funding for the Department of Defense Landsat operations. This does not mean, however, that the administration no longer believes in the important mission of the Landsat satellite to support global climate change research and national security. The President's National Science and Technology Council this week adopted a proposal to construct, launch, and operate a Landsat 7 system. While not all details of this proposal have been completed, it assumes a transfer of the Department of Defense fiscal year 1994 Landsat funds to NASA to cover a portion of the completion cost of Landsat 7. After the launch of Landsat 7, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration would be responsible for the system's ground operations, including data processing, distribution and archiving at the EROS Data Center in Garretson, SD. The Landsat program provides critical land remote sensing data for earth science research and a variety of operational applications of importance to national security as well as domestic and international use.”