Ralph Hall: “I am honored to support this amendment. It is a good amendment. I thank the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Mollohan)…”

“I am honored to support this amendment. It is a good amendment. I thank the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Mollohan) for bringing it forth. I also want to suggest that the subcommittee chairman, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Walsh), in his very level and fair-handed handling of this, has agreed to look at this with the gentleman and see if something cannot be worked out. That allows me to give back maybe some of the 3 minutes the gentleman has given me. The gentleman has covered almost everything. The figures have been covered. Members know I am a strong supporter of the national space program. I will not spend time today recounting all the benefits that have come out of the program over the years. I think everybody is aware of them. But I am disappointed in the way this appropriations bill treats NASA. NASA is not a Republican thrust nor a Democratic thrust. It is really an American thrust, and it has always been handled that way. When it came time, when the information came from the executive to cut back on programs, NASA was cut back more than any. NASA complied. Administrator Goldin agreed and cut it back because he knew he could cut it decisively with an intelligent knife; and if we cut it, sometimes we cut it with a baseball bat, not knowing really what we are doing. He cut it back about 35 percent over a period of 2 rac{1}{2} years. I think we have kept the faith and we ought not to be cutting back on this NASA program again.”