Lamar Smith: “Let me thank the chairman of the Subcommittee on Space for yielding me time. I also want to thank him and Donna Edwards…”

“Let me thank the chairman of the Subcommittee on Space for yielding me time. I also want to thank him and Donna Edwards, Eddie Bernice Johnson, and Mo Brooks for sponsoring this bipartisan legislation. NASA has accomplished some of the most inspiring and technologically advanced space initiatives in the history of humankind. This bill, H.R. 810, the NASA Authorization Act of 2015, helps ensure that the United States will continue its proud tradition of being a world leader in space exploration. For more than 50 years, the U.S. has led the world in space exploration. The U.S. was the first nation to put a human on the Moon, and NASA's Voyager 1, an American space mission, was the first human- made object to enter interstellar space. Our astronauts are national heroes. Alan Shepard, John Glenn, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Sally Ride are household names. Today's astronauts motivate students to study science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and to reach for the stars. Space exploration is an investment in our Nation's future, sometimes our long-term future. This bill expresses bipartisan confidence in America's space initiatives. The bill is nearly identical to the one that passed the House last year by a vote of 401-2. It is consistent with current funding levels found in the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act for 2015.…”