Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2015

Floor Speech

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Madam Chair, I rise today to offer an amendment to shift $7 million in funding from the NASA space operations account to NASA's space technology mission. I strongly support and urge my colleagues to support this amendment.

I strongly support the improvements to the overall NASA budget, but I am concerned that we are missing a critical opportunity in the space technology account.

The space technology mission supports game-changing research and development that enhances our current missions and expands the opportunity for future missions.

For example, at NASA Glenn in Ohio, space technology research supports the Solar Electric Propulsion project, developing critical energy technologies to enable cost-effective trips to Mars and across the inner solar system to enrich a variety of next-generation journeys and to do so more energy effectively and efficiently.

This transformative work advances not only our space exploration program, but our economy and our national well-being, with spin-off benefits to advanced manufacturing, our commercial energy sector, defense, automotive, and commercial aviation industries and countless other applications.

The Space Technology Mission Directorate's focus on partnerships and strategic integration promotes technology transfer and commercialization within private sector companies, sprouting new businesses and the important jobs that accompany the future. This exciting work challenges our brightest minds, including many of our young people, to excel and create a pipeline of innovation driving our economy into the future.

I understand limitations of the constrained budget we are working with and want to thank Ranking Member Fattah and our esteemed chairman, Frank Wolf, to better fund NASA's Space Technology Program and other critical research and development efforts.

My amendment merely shifts $7 million in funding to the space technology account from the space operations account. It is a small but important step in the right direction, and space operations has been given quite a substantial increase. In addition, my amendment would actually reduce outlays by $2 million for fiscal year 2015.

So I think it is a win-win-win on all fronts. I look forward to continuing to work with the chairman and the ranking member and our colleagues as the bill moves forward in the Senate and further address the needs of this important program.

I would urge support of the Kaptur amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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