Campaign '08

McCain: “strong supporter” of NASA and space program

A reader tipped me off to this new space policy statement from the McCain campaign:

John McCain have been a strong supporter of NASA and the space program. He is proud to have sponsored legislation authorizing funding consistent with the President’s vision for the space program, which includes a return of astronauts to the Moon in preparation for a manned mission to Mars. He believes support for a continued US presence in space is of major importance to America’s future innovation and security. He has also been a staunch advocate for ensuring that NASA funding is accompanied by proper management and oversight to ensure that the taxpayers receive the maximum return on their investment. John McCain believes curiosity and a drive to explore have always been quintessential American traits. This has been most evident in the space program, for which he will continue his strong support.

The statement refers to authorizing legislation McCain introduced: this was S. 2541, introduced in June 2004 by McCain with three Republican co-sponsors: George Allen of Virginia, Sam Brownback of Kansas, and Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas. At that time McCain was chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, which has oversight of NASA, while Brownback was chairman of the committee’s space subcommittee. Note that this is not the same version as the NASA Authorization Act of 2005, which was passed in the 109th Congress; McCain was not a sponsor of the 2005 version (S. 1281), most likely because by then he was no longer chairman of the commerce committee. The two versions, though, do share a number of key provisions.

13 comments to McCain: “strong supporter” of NASA and space program

  • That’s great that he has come out and stated his support in a campaign context, but why hasn’t he met with the Florida Space Coast EDC? That would go a lot further with the Florida voters than simple making this statement on his website.

  • BL

    John McCain HAVE been? Looks like McCain’s staff HAS been operating without an editor.

  • Note that it is simply stating what he has done in the Senate. It is not describing what his space policy would be as President.

  • I agree. It really is unimpressive.

  • […] do we have Presidential candidates that have spoken clearly on the issue?  Well, why yes, we do.  It may seem odd, but NASA’s mission in most certainly in our own hands, more so […]

  • […] this be yet another case where Obama’s good sense trumps Republican insanity? Signs point to yes … No Comments so far Leave a comment RSS feed for comments on this post. […]

  • Charles Stoy

    Does this mean that McCain also supported the NASA position on Global Warming? He sat on the committe with oversight responsibility when NASA took its position….

  • David

    ‘Obama’s good sense trumps Republican insanity’ — John Schwenkler

    Obama has clearly stated that he would delay the constellation program for 5 years to pay for his education programs. Sounds like a great idea… Since we are essentially donating all of our NASA rocket scientists to the European Space Agency, lets go ahead and give them our shuttles and our plans for the moon to China and the RKA.

    McCain is CLEARLY in the right position here, going status quo with Bush’s moon mission.

    A vote for Obama is a vote to make us 4th place in space… (RKA, ESA, Chinese Space Program, then NASA) Doesn’t that make you proud?

  • […] candidate John McCain has issued a far more detailed space policy statement. This document replaces the one the campaign issued in January, just before the Florida primary. While the original document was only one paragraph long and made […]

  • JW

    >>A vote for Obama is a vote to make us 4th place in space… (RKA, ESA, Chinese Space Program, then NASA) Doesn’t that make you proud?<<

    Yes, it does. Nasa is a complete waste of money and time. We need to take the $17.6 Billion per year we spend on studing space and put it to something useful like helping those of us here on earth. ie. our trillion dollar debt, medical research… just a few opptions… please tell me if I’m wrong.

  • walter

    Really? well thanks to nasa….those satellites that allow you to use GPA,cellphones,etc exist. think twice before underestimating what nasa has done for technology and research.

  • gary

    A vote for obama is a vote to make us 4th in the space race… I ask you, why is 4th place so bad. Just because were america must we always be first. I think that was an ignorant statement because we can still have pride in our country while not on top, and if you dont have pride in your country while not on top then your not a true american. Holding off on our space exploration for a little while to fund education and other things that need to be taken care of HERE seems like a reasonable idea.

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