As reported by Lee Roop of the Huntsville Times, Senators Shelby, Cochran, Sessions, Vitter, and Wicker, sent a strongly worded letter to the White House concerning misallocation of SLS funding by NASA. A copy of the Senators’ letter is featured in the article and follows below, complements of The Huntsville Times and Scribd.
It’s been apparent to many in both the House and Senate, as well as those working on the SLS, that NASA is using funds appropriated for SLS for activities not closely related to the development of the Space Launch System. The misallocations by NASA are in part listed in the Senators’ letter. It is NASA’s current misallocation of SLS funding that motivated the House Appropriations Science Subcommittee Chairman Frank Wolf to enact detailed limitations concerning FY12 SLS and Orion funding that specifically forbid activities such as those mentioned in the Senators’ letter. As Senator Cochran is the Ranking Member of the full Senate Appropriations Committee and Senator Shelby is the Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee responsible for NASA funding, the Senate will likely accept, perhaps even strengthen, those limitations.Senators’ NASA Letter