American Space Commerce Free Enterprise Act

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2809, the American Space Commerce Free Enterprise Act of 2017. As the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Space, I support a robust and successful commercial space industry, and I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues on policies that facilitate our Nation's contained growth and leadership in space.

The bill before us today, H.R. 2809, would provide a regulatory framework for U.S. innovative and emerging nongovernmental space activities.

Commercial space launches, space-based remote sensing, and space communications are currently authorized under existing frameworks in the FAA, the Department of Commerce, and the FCC. However, proposed activities such as commercial operations on the Moon, asteroid mining, satellite servicing, and privately owned space habitats are not covered.

The bill establishes a certification process at Commerce for those emerging commercial space activities and, in so doing, provides important certainty for commercial companies and investors in these planned space activities. The bill also makes some updates to the licensing regime for commercial space-based remote sensing systems.

Further, the bill moves the regulatory oversight of commercial space- based remote sensing systems to the Office of Space Commerce under the Secretary of Commerce. The Office of Space Commerce would also have authority for the certification of nontraditional commercial space activities.

Mr. Speaker, I have often spoken about the importance of building a rules-of-the-road framework that does not stifle innovation and provides guardrails for proper government oversight. No bill is perfect, but I believe that this bill strikes a fair balance in achieving the goal of certifying these nontraditional commercial space activities that don't fit within the current regulatory structure.

That being said, while I support moving the bill forward, there are several aspects of H.R. 2809 that deserve further discussion, including ensuring that:

Relevant Federal agencies can weigh in on whether proposed commercial space activities could affect the physical safety of U.S. Government space operations, including human space flight operations;

Making sure that relevant government expertise and measures to perform harmful contamination of planetary surfaces are taken into account;

Making sure that any remaining national security and intelligence agency concerns are addressed;

And making sure additional information is provided on how the consolidated Office of Space Commerce will be properly funded and staffed so it can carry out the additional responsibilities for authorizing commercial space activities and commercial space-based remote sensing under the bill.

I am hopeful that these and other aspects of the bill will be addressed as the bill proceeds, both in the Senate and in any House- Senate conference.

Space is an area that should have bipartisan support from Congress. NASA and the commercial space industry can only benefit when we work together as Democrats and Republicans. As a result, I support passage of this bill, and I ask my colleagues to join me in helping to move this bill out of the House.
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Mr. BERA. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I think you have seen the genuine enthusiasm that Democrats and Republicans and all Americans have about space. It is in that spirit of national pride and American leadership that I urge all my colleagues to pass this bill, and, again, to continue to foster American leadership in space and meet that goal that my colleague Mr. Perlmutter often talks about, getting to Mars by 2033.

Mr. Speaker, it has been a pleasure working with the chairman of the full committee and the subcommittee, and I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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