Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2020

Floor Speech

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Mr. FOSTER. Mr. Chair, I thank my colleagues for supporting en bloc No. 2, which included two of my amendments.

The first amendment directs NASA to work toward the development of a low-enriched uranium space power reactor. NASA has been developing a low-enriched uranium propulsion system, but some of the funding for this has been used on other projects, including a power reactor using weapons-grade uranium.

The problem is that if all the spacefaring nations of the world start using large amounts of weapons-grade material in their space reactors, then it will be difficult to ensure that this material would not be diverted to weapons programs in space and on Earth.

If the U.S. develops a low-enriched uranium space power reactor design, it is likely that this type of reactor design will be adopted as a de facto standard by other spacefaring nations, making Earth and space a safer place.

The second amendment directs $6.5 million of the space technology account, which is currently funded at $1.29 billion, to be used by the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts, or NIAC, program. That will put the total budget for NIAC at $15.2 million.

The NIAC program nurtures visionary ideas that could transform future NASA missions with the creation of breakthroughs that could dramatically lower the cost of space travel while simultaneously engaging America's innovators and entrepreneurs as partners in the journey.

The nation that first demonstrates such technologies will own the future of space travel.

At $15.2 million, NIAC is still less than a tenth of a percent of NASA's overall $22 billion budget, but this is a small step in the right direction.

Mr. Chair, I thank my colleagues for their support of these amendments.

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