Nick Lampson: “Mr. Chairman, for the sake of our future, I rise today to support full funding for the International Space Station. I…”

“Mr. Chairman, for the sake of our future, I rise today to support full funding for the International Space Station. I represent the Johnson Space Center and the thousands of men and women whose livelihoods depend upon this project and our commitment to space exploration and research. I am proud to represent them, but I do not want my support for the space station to be viewed as pork-barrel politics, helping only the ninth district of Texas. In fact, we must all support the space station for our future. I stand before you today to voice this support for the station because of what America learned about its future in 1969. At that time I was teaching physical science at South Park High School in Beaumont, TX, and I saw firsthand how our progress in space culminating in the lunar landing encouraged and inspired students. The prospect of a fully functioning international space station will rekindle our enthusiasm for space and science and lead us to greater discoveries than we can even comprehend today. I have with me some of the 7,000 letters that were written by science and math teachers from all across America voicing their support for the space station. They know the space station is crucial to the future of science and technology in this Nation.”