The full Senate has restored $600 million in funding to NASA’s proposed FY2005 budget. The six senators who represent Alabama (Sessions and Shelby), Florida (Graham and Nelson), and Texas (Cornyn and Hutchison) introduced an amendment during floor debate on S. Con. Res. 95 to “provide full funding for NASA’s FY 2005 space exploration initiatives”. The amendment performed this by taking $600 million from the “General Government” account and adding it to the “General Science, Space, and Technology” account. Jeff Sessions, the lead sponsor on the amendment, explained to the Huntsville Times that the General Government account, which covers government buildings upkeep and federal payrolls, had “considerable fat” that could be trimmed. The amendment passed on a voice vote and the overall budget resolution passed on a 51-46 vote. While this is a victory for NASA, it’s only a first step: House and Senate appropriators have only begun their work on the details of the NASA budget, and NASA’s $16.2-billion budget could still change significantly between now and this fall.
