On the recordMay 4, 2022
I, too, oppose this amendment. Striking the authorization does strike competition. NASA has asked for continued competition, and there are many defense contractors who have expressed interest--Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Dynetics. So I understand my colleague's frustration and what he wants to complain about, but this is about safety, and it is about redundancy, and it is about us authorizing the Artemis program; not just having appropriators make a decision, but having the authorization of safety and redundancy that we expect if we as a Nation are going to take the next woman astronaut all the way to the surface of the Moon. When I think about what happened with the space shuttle Columbia and the disaster, NASA suffered great consequences. They have said redundancy matters, and that is what we are authorizing, and the competition my colleague just mentioned. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont, 30 seconds.
