Dreier Applauds Committee Action on
NASA Funding
Dreier, Schiff Letter Leads to Full Funding for Key JPL Projects

October 9, 2002

WASHINGTON - Congressman David Dreier (R-San Dimas), Chairman of the House Rules Committee, announced today that the full House Appropriations Committee has approved a funding bill that fully funds the NASA budget for Fiscal Year 2003, including key funding for the Pasadena-based Jet Propulsion Laboratory's (JPL) planetary exploration missions and a university-based technology development program. Dreier originally requested the funding with his California colleague Congressman Adam Schiff (D-Pasadena). Today's action by the full House Appropriations Committee is the last step before the funding bill goes to the full House for approval.

"Exploring Mars and Europa could lead us to important information about our own planet," Dreier said. "The potential for discovery in these types of environments is unlimited, but we must provide the resources for the exploration to move forward. I'm very pleased my colleagues on the Appropriations Committee have recognized the significance of this important research and have committed the funds necessary to seeing it continue."

The bill approved by the House Appropriations Committee today provides $15.3 billion for NASA overall. Within that budget, Caltech's JPL will receive $30 million for its Europa Mission, $19.9 million for its Mars Mission, and $10 million for the university-based technology development program. This program will serve to enable a broad-based working relationship with the best of U.S. research universities for research on the technologies that will ultimately be developed for the Europa mission.

In their letter to the VA, HUD, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee Chair, Congressman Jim Walsh (R-NY), and Ranking Member, Congressman Alan Mollohan (D-WV), Dreier and Schiff pointed to the importance of planetary exploration to our everyday lives. They wrote, "The search for life is more than just a science fiction fantasy. Actually discovering life, microbial or otherwise, on any other planet would be a discovery of immense scientific value. In addition, the Earth's oceans are the life-blood of our world, driving our weather, providing us food, and maintaining the habitability of our world. The opportunity to study an ocean planet could provide important insights into our own."