Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise today to speak on behalf of Senator Nelson's amendment preventing the establishment of an extra advisory committee for NASA. It is ironic that in his recent State of the Union Address, President Obama spoke of needing a ``sputnik'' moment to push America forward while the administration is supporting actions that complicate and weaken NASA and outsource its core capabilities. Why should we transfer the responsibility for deciding how to affect aeronautics research from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the responsible agency? NASA provides the Nation's fundamental aeronautics research capability and any further dilution of its capabilities will negatively impact not only our research and development abilities but America's future space missions. Furthermore, the advisory committee's function would directly and adversely affect the separate authorization of appropriations, Public Law 109-155, for NASA, wherein the Agency's lead role in civil aeronautics research was reaffirmed--Sec. 411. This is why I voted in favor of Senator Nelson's amendment, which passed by a vote of 96 to 1. It is good that the formation of this committee has been struck by the Nelson amendment. The proposal has not been fully considered. It is unwise and goes against what Congress has already established. I strongly believe it is of critical importance for the United States to maintain our competitive edge in human space exploration and civil aeronautics research.…”