The Honorable Donna F. Edwards
H.R. 4412, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act
June 9, 2014
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4412, the NASA Authorization Act of 2014.
I want to say first a special thank you, Mr. Speaker, to our chairman, Mr. Smith; our ranking member, Ms. Johnson; and my partner in crime, our subcommittee chairman, Mr. PALAZZO. This has indeed been a bipartisan effort. It didn’t start out that way, but America and our national space program should be glad that it has ended that way.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA, is recognized across the world as a symbol of the United States’ greatness as a Nation and its leadership in science and technology. It should not be a surprise that so many developed and emerging nations seek to follow suit in pursuing space exploration.
Space exploration and the United States’ preeminence in space are critical to our economic success in the 21st century. NASA, in fact, is our crown jewel. It is one of the things that our government really does do best.
NASA’s space and aeronautics programs advance our technological competence, challenge our industries and workforce in ways that sustain their global competitiveness, advance scientific understanding, and truly inspire the next generation to dream big and to garner the skills to turn those dreams into action.
In my own State of Maryland, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center supports more than 15,000 civil service and private sector jobs in my home county of Prince George’s County, including highly skilled occupations such as engineers, technicians, mathematicians, and scientists.
NASA also collaborates extensively with Maryland’s high-tech business sector. These collaborations encourage the expansion of the skilled workforce that has made Maryland a leader in research and technology. In fact, our State’s economy is strengthened by our collective investment in space. And that is true for
Maryland, but it is also true across the Nation, because we are explorers and we are innovators.
The NASA Authorization Act of 2014 builds on the bipartisan support that Congress has given NASA as a multi-mission agency with programs in space and Earth science, aeronautics, human spaceflight, and exploration. It also authorizes funding consistent with fiscal year 2014 appropriations that were enacted through the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2014. And while I, too, would have preferred a multiyear authorization of appropriations that would have provided the stability that NASA and its contractor workforce need over time, this bill is foundational, and it provides important policy direction that will strengthen our Nation’s space program.
In particular, H.R. 4412 sets the long-term goal for NASA’s human exploration program of sending humans to the surface of Mars and directs NASA to provide a human exploration roadmap outlining the capabilities and milestones needed to achieve that goal. Recognizing two of the primary systems needed to accomplish this, H.R. 4412 directs the expeditious development, test, and achievement of the Space Launch System and the Orion crew capsule for operations as the highest priorities of NASA’s human exploration program.
The bill also includes provisions to ensure the full and productive utilization of the international space station, the ISS, and that includes the development of a strategic plan for ISS research and a report on the progress of the organization chosen to manage the ISS national laboratory.
Mr. Speaker, NASA is in the process of working with the commercial industry on the development of human spaceflight systems that can transport NASA’s astronauts to and from ISS on U.S. systems. This bill is faithful to the key recommendations of the Columbia accident investigation report as indicated by the ranking member.
In the area of science, the bill directs NASA to seek to ensure, to the extent practicable, a steady cadence of large, medium, and small missions. It requires new National Academies science strategies in extrasolar planet exploration and astrobiology and an assessment of NASA’s Mars mission plans and goals. H.R. 4412 also sustains a strong and comprehensive Earth science program – that is important to us at Goddard Spaceflight Center, but it is also important to the Nation – and a sense of the Congress on the importance of the James Webb Space Telescope to science and that priority be given to ensure that the program stays on budget and on schedule.
Mr. Speaker, I believe we are all becoming, also, sensitive to orbital debris or space junk. H.R. 4412 includes a number of provisions to advance our scientific and technical understanding of these issues and to identify potential options for mitigating the risk they pose.
Further, NASA’s aeronautics research and development activities are critical to ensuring innovation in our aeronautics industry, sustaining safe operations, and mitigating the effects of aviation operations on the environment. The bill ensures that NASA maintains a strong aeronautics research portfolio ranging from fundamental research through integrated systems.
H.R. 4412 also provides important policy and programmatic direction on NASA’s space technology program, and it reaffirms the importance of NASA’s education activities, especially as they involve the NASA mission directorates and the scientists and engineers engaged in NASA programs. The Space Grant Program, in particular, provides critical opportunities for engaging students in the space-related as well as broader STEM fields, and this bill ensures the continuation of Space Grant and requires an independent review to recommend measures to enhance the program’s effectiveness.
The bill also provides important good government policy direction, including on cost controls and cost estimation, avoiding conflicts of interest in major NASA acquisition programs.
Mr. Speaker, it also provides for detection and avoidance of counterfeit electronic parts, information technology governance, and increased transparency in Space Act Agreements.
In closing, Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that our committee has worked hard to improve the original base bill and pass it on a bipartisan basis.
I want to thank our ranking member again and our chairman and Chairman PALAZZO. I particularly want to thank all of our staff, especially our subcommittee staff and our personal staff: Chris Shank, Tom Hammond, Jared Stout, Allison Rose-Sonnesyn, Gabriella Ra’anan, Richard Obermann, Allen Li, Pam Whitney, Megan Mitchell, and Anne Nelson.
With that, I urge the passage of H.R. 4412.
