U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson is urging members of his own party to preserve "at least a significant portion" of the $1.5 billion in federal stimulus funding proposed for NASA, his office said in a press release today. The release includes a Feb. 3 letter to Sen. Daniel Inouye, the Hawaii Democrat who heads the Senate Appropriations Committee, supporting NASA.
Nelson highlights technological innovations and scientific discoveries resulting from NASA programs, and laments the minimum five-year gap in the nation's manned spaceflight capability after the space shuttle's planned 2010 retirement.
"This is a shameful situation, and I greatly appreciate your efforts to provide NASA with the additional funding it needs to help address this problem," Nelson wrote.
You can read the letter here.
As part of Nelson's "eleventh-hour effort," his office said he had also spoken to Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska (left), a fellow Democrat who has questioned the stimulative effect of the NASA spending. A final Senate vote on the roughly $900 billion stimulus package could be held as soon as tonight or Friday, Nelson's office said.
A House stimulus package that passed along party lines included $600 million for NASA. An amendment by U.S. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, D-New Smyrna, to add another $2 billion to accelerate the Constellation program was rejected.
IMAGE NOTE: Official photos of U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, above, and U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson, below.
1 comment:
President Obama pledged two billion dollars of new funding for NASA.
http://www.floridatoday.com/content/blogs/space/2008/10/obama-union-reps-push-nasa-funding.shtml
The $1.5 billion in the stimulus would go a significant way towards honoring this promise.
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