In comments at a Space Transportation Association breakfast on Thursday, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said it was unlikely that Congress would pass an authorization bill for NASA this year. “To be honest with you, we’re running out of time,” he said. There are only two weeks in the legislative calendar after this week before the August recess, and only three weeks after that before Congress is set to adjourn for the elections, although work on appropriations bills may keep Congress in session until the first or second week of October. With such a limited schedule, “that’s very difficult to get a reauthorization bill to the President by then.” Instead, he wants to focus attention on appropriations legislation.
DeLay said, though, that the House won’t give up working on the legislation, either to lay the groundwork for getting the bill passed next year or in case “lightning strikes” this year. Responsibility for the legislation in the House apparently still rests with Science Committee chairman Sherwood Boehlert, although there are apparently some differences of opinion between Boehlert and DeLay about the specifics of the legislation. “Chairman Boehlert assures me he is working on something, and we have had several discussions” about the details of the bill, he said. “Boehlert said he supports the parameters of the President’s vision, but not all the specifics, like cost and timeframe, which in my mind are critical components.” DeLay didn’t indicate when he believed the legislation would be introduced in the House. The Senate introduced an authorization bill for NASA last month.
“Boehlert said he supports the parameters of the President’s vision, but not all the specifics, like cost and timeframe, which in my mind are critical components.”
When this comment is added to today’s NY Times piece about ISS safe haven not being so safe after all, it seems to me that specifics such as “costs and timeframe” are rather important.
A rushed orbiter return to flight could have disastrous consequences for everything.
I support the proposed NASA funding 110% – – heck, I support even more NASA funding than that – – but to deny there are legitimate details to debate doesn’t help the cause IMHO.
From what I understand, space is one area where Congress has been unable to produce authorization bills for years. It is an endemic problem. In other areas, Congress regularly produces authorization bills that have some effect, but space has always been dysfunctional.
So what is the likely effect of no authorization bill this year?
Dwayne,
The 106th Congress enacted an excellent multi-year NASA Authorization Act in 2000. It was the legislative heir of House-passed bills from the 104th and 105th Congresses. The last previous enacted reauthorization occured in the 102nd, i.e. 1992. In general, during most of the Congresses no NASA Authorization was enacted into law because of inaction in the Senate, or because NASA resisted provisions which gave the agency strong direction.
Sadly, the loss of Columbia in 2003, and the CAIB report, and the wait for the President’s Vision, all postponed action on actual legislation until this spring. The Senate has now introduced a bill, but the House has not yet produced one.
All that said, the *cost* of not having an authorization bill is that NASA is not getting some of the support — and the guidance — it needs to succeed in its erstwhile transformation into a “pushing the frontier” exploration agency. The lack of authorization to start a large dollar prize program is just one example.
– Jim