Don Beyer

I want to thank the witnesses for their important work and look forward to their testimony.

We live in a time of extraordinary discovery and progress in astronomy and astrophysics.

The health of our astronomy and astrophysics enterprise is important to the nation's overall industrial and scientific base.

Expanding access to and diversity and inclusion of the astronomy and astrophysics community is a key to achieving the ambitious goals that this decadal survey lays out.

I keep talking about, you know, we have a little more than $1 billion for fusion energy coming out of a--blessed by the Science Committee and included in Build Back Better, and in a bill that could be approaching $2 trillion, this is the…

Well, thank you. Yes, I get discouraged by how slowly we move here, so my new legislative strategy is build, try, break.

Thank you very much. And Chairman Bowman, thanks very much for holding this hearing. This is the most exciting hearing I've seen in 2021 in terms of the potential.

If the United States is serious about leading in a human mission to Mars, we have no time to lose.

Space nuclear propulsion can produce thrust far more efficiently than conventional chemical systems, allowing for shorter trip times to Mars.

If we're serious about deep space exploration to Mars with humans, which I am serious about, and I know everyone on this Committee is, we need to take bold steps to make it happen and make it sustainable.

Today we're talking about one bold effort that could get us much closer to achieving that Mars goal, space nuclear propulsion.

Every Democrat and every Republican talks about--willing to keep these great new Ph.D.'s in our physical sciences here. How come we can't pass the equivalent of the STAPLE Act in the U.S. Congress?

How do we make sure that we keep our science open, and what percentage of all the research and work that they're doing really represents a national security threat to us?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, very much.

The ISS partnership is a beacon of, and vehicle for, peaceful, international cooperation in outer space.

It's essential that we prioritize investments in NASA infrastructure, especially at a time when Democrats and Republicans across the country are coming together on a commitment to new infrastructure.

The elephant in the room is why not less plastics?

I want to say that I am very supportive of this Act, and I'm all in on more research and development.

Our colleague Alan Lowenthal from Long Beach has a banning single use plastics bill.

It is critical that we protect our coastal communities and ecosystems and help them more effectively adapt and prepare for sea level rise and changing ocean conditions.

If we take a look at the global markets and the amount of money that is going toward so-called ESG funds or environmental, social, and governance funds, the market is shifting.

In the 7 years I've been on the Science Committee, we continue to hear about the dwindling percentage of excellent applications that can be approved because the money just hasn't kept up.

I'm a big fan of the National Science Foundation because it's a couple blocks from my home on--in Duke Street.

I really value the tremendous benefit the agency has brought to America and Americans over the past 70 years.

I know my--Jake LaTurner, the Congressman, brought up the idea of the long term commitment to research funding.