Senator Richard Shelby, when asked to comment on the new plans for NASA from the White House, gave the following comment,
“China, India, and Russia will be putting humans in space while we wait on commercial hobbyists to actually back up their grand promises. The proposed $6 billion commercial crew initiative is a welfare program for amateur rocket companies with little or nothing to show for the taxpayer dollars they have already squandered.”
Representative Gabrielle Giffords has already planned hearings on the White House’s plans.
The Space Coast and communities across the country have been looking to the President for leadership and a bold vision for the future of space exploration, and after months of delays he seems to be falling short. It is simply unacceptable and I will fight back, along with my colleagues from both parties, to maintain a robust space program and to preserve as many Space Coast jobs as possible.
Senator John Cornyn, “It’s a matter of priorities. We can find that money in other parts of the budget.”
Representative Bart Gordon released the following comment,
Turning to NASA, the space agency’s budget request represents a radical departure from the bipartisan consensus achieved by Congress in successive authorizations over the past five years. This requires deliberate scrutiny. We will need to hear the Administration’s rationale for such a change and assess its impact on U.S. leadership in space before Congress renders its judgment on the proposals.
Senator Kay Bailey-Hutchison, “I do believe that we need to cut spending [but] … we should focus on things that are important and cut in areas that are less so,” said Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, the top Republican on the committee that oversees NASA. She called it “very short-sighted. … We’ve already made such an investment.”
One day [commercial manned space] will be like commercial airline travel, just not yet. It’s like 1920. Lindbergh hasn’t flown the Atlantic, and they’re trying to sell 747s to Pan Am.
Tommy Battle, Mayor, Huntsville, Alabama
We’ve invested billions of dollars in it, it’s a proven technology. We do not need to have a rudderless ship sitting there with NASA. We do not need to take manned space flight off the table for the next 10 to 15 years.
We’re going to working to make sure we do everything we can to get this program put back in.
Representative Ralph Hall released a statement.
In these tough economic times, we must prioritize federal spending to generate the greatest return on our investment. Our space program has contributed as much or more than any civilian government program to securing America’s technological and economic leadership in the world. If the President’s budget is enacted, the U.S. could lose a highly skilled and educated workforce, the cooperation of our international partners, and our competitive edge globally.
Note: This will be updated regularly, so stay tuned.