Closing Floor Statement on H.R. 2262, the SPACE Act
May 21, 2015
Mr. Chairman, I have no further speakers, and I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Chairman, I rise here today because, as I said in my opening remarks, that I think that most of us on both sides of the aisle share the excitement about the commercial space industry and we do indeed want it to succeed.
We all work for the taxpayer; and the American taxpayer, as I have stated, has a vested interest in the commercial space industry because we have laid out hundreds of millions of dollars, billions of dollars to support it.
Mr. Chairman, the Senate yesterday marked up a bipartisan compromise bill with very few changes to it. On the other hand, this bill, if it passes the House unchanged, is going to be dead in the water. But if we pass the substitute that we are considering later on, that I offer later today, we will have a great chance to do some real lawmaking. It will not have addressed all of the industry concerns. It will not have done anything to get in the way of the advance of commercial space.
So I urge my fellow Members to support a bipartisan process that began over in the Senate. Vote for the substitute amendment later on and say, you know, we can start fresh here, not with something that just disadvantages consumers and taxpayers. Let’s try to be on the same page when it comes to the strong support that I think each side feels with respect to the commercial space industry.
I yield back the balance of my time.
H.R. 2262, the SPACE Act passed the House by a vote 284-133 on May 21st, 2015
