Congressman Adam Putnam (R-Fla.) voted in favor of a measure to that will save thousands of Florida aerospace jobs and which may allow the space shuttle to fly more missions.
With overwhelming bipartisan support (304-118), the U.S. House of Representatives passed the measure which had originated in the Senate, sending it to the White House. Despite the fact the measure makes significant changes to the plan President Obama had advocated earlier this year, he is expected to sign the bill into law.
“While national space policy clearly has broad implications for the future of our nation and the planet, it also has a down-to-earth, immediate impact on Florida,” said Putnam. “For decades the space program has been the crown jewel in Florida’s high tech future, bringing leading-edge technologies and jobs to our state,” said Putnam. “This legislation helps restore and refocus NASA, which will have a major positive impact on Florida for many years to come.
“This legislation sets a new course for the space program, opening the door for commercial operations in space, serving the nearly completed international space station and accelerating development by NASA of heavy-lift rockets designed to take astronauts deeper into space,” said Putnam.
More than 1,000 aerospace employees in Florida stand to lose their jobs this week as the shuttle program winds down. By accelerating the development of the heavy lift rockets, the measure creates new opportunities for those highly skilled workers and possibly 2,000 additional jobs. The measure also adds one more mission to the two remaining scheduled shuttle launches and will provide for modernization and other upgrades to the critical infrastructure at Kennedy Space Center, which is necessary for future missions. Those missions could eventually lead to manned ventures to deep space asteroids or the planet Mars.
Since 2001, Putnam has represented Florida’s 12th Congressional District, which includes most of Polk County and portions of Hillsborough and Osceola counties.
|