Spurring Private Aerospace Competitiveness and Entrepreneurship Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 2262. This bill is the result of bipartisan negotiations with our Senate colleagues over the last several months. Just last week, the Senate passed this bill unanimously.

   Over the last 3 years, the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee has held 14 hearings on issues related to commercial space, with dozens of witnesses from government, industry, academia, and grassroots organizations. We have met with countless stakeholders and considered this bill in committee with markups, on the House floor under a rule that allowed for amendments, and successfully negotiated a bipartisan, bicameral bill with the Senate. By all measures, this is how the legislative process should work. I commend my colleagues both in this House and in the Senate on a job well done.

   That isn't to say that this is a perfect bill, but in some instances I don't think the bill goes quite far enough. But that is the nature of our legislative process, and the bill before us moves the ball down the field in the right direction, enabling a strong American commercial space industry to flourish. This bill reflects the most significant piece of legislation relating to commercial space since 1988.

   I am also very proud that our final product looks remarkably similar to the bill we approved in the House, with strong bipartisan support, earlier. We were able to convince our Senate colleagues of the importance of extending the regulatory learning period beyond 5 years to 8 years; we were able to extend indemnification to 10 years as opposed to 5 years as called for in the Senate bill; and we were able to include many additional launch provisions from the original House bill. These are important provisions that will build a strong American space industry.

   I am also very pleased that the Senate agreed to include three other critical titles in this bill that were introduced and advanced by members of the committee. These include the Commercial Remote Sensing Act, sponsored by Representative Bridenstine; the Office of Space Commerce Act, sponsored by Representative Rohrabacher; and the Space Resource Exploration and Utilization Act, sponsored by Representative Posey. Their tireless advocacy ensured these provisions stayed in the bill. These provisions will pave the way for new industries to blossom in the United States, allowing our Nation to remain the world leader in space. We want the United States to be the place where the world comes for space.

   Mr. Speaker, this bipartisan, bicameral agreement facilitates a progrowth environment for the developing commercial space sector and creates more stable regulatory conditions.

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