Jim Sensenbrenner: “Mr. Chairman, the chairman of the Subcommittee on VA, HUD and Independent Agencies of the Committee on Appropriations…”

“Mr. Chairman, the chairman of the Subcommittee on VA, HUD and Independent Agencies of the Committee on Appropriations and I reached an agreement on the NASA transfer authority contained in H.R. 2158 for the International Space Station which allows the NASA administrator to transfer up to $150 million from the science, aeronautics, and technology account and the mission support account to the International Space Station Program. This authority is contained on page 64, lines 8 through 22 of the Union Calendar bill. I agreed not to raise a point of order against the transfer authority in exchange for a commitment by the gentleman from California [Mr. Lewis] that any conference report to H.R. 2158 containing transfer authority language would require NASA to obtain approval from both the House Committee on Science, in addition to approval from the Committee on Appropriations. This agreement is critical to protect the oversight responsibilities of the authorization committee, and I thank the chairman of the Subcommittee on VA, HUD and Independent Agencies for his assurances that will require the NASA administrator to formally request, justify, and obtain prior approval from the Committee on Science before utilizing the transfer authority contained in this legislation.”