Ralph Hall: “H.R. 6063, sponsored by my good friend Mark Udall, authorizes the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for…”

“H.R. 6063, sponsored by my good friend Mark Udall, authorizes the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for fiscal year 2009. The intent of the bill is to keep NASA on its current path towards completing the International Space Station, retiring the Space Shuttle, maintaining a balanced set of science and aeronautics research programs, and developing a new launch system capable of taking humans beyond the low earth orbit, a feat the Shuttle cannot do. The bill is also meant to reaffirm Congress's unwavering support for NASA so as to remove any doubt the next administration might have about Congress's commitment to NASA's program and to NASA's policies. By being a 1-year bill, it also is designed, I think, to not tie the hands of the next administration to a long-term strategy. To the contrary, H.R. 6063 is designed to give the next President an opportunity to work with the next Congress to fashion a long-term strategy that is consistent with the administration's desires as well as the wishes of Congress.”