Earlier this week the House overwhelmingly approved the “Enhancing Small Business Research and Innovation Act of 2009″ (HR 2965). Included in the final version of the House bill was an amendment offered by Rep. Suzanne Kosmas (D-FL) regarding small businesses and the end of the shuttle program, located in section 206 of the bill:
(2) SPACE SHUTTLE PROGRAM- Each agency required to establish a commercialization program under paragraph (1) and that carries out construction, assembly, or research and development activities with respect to the space shuttle program (also known as the space transportation system) shall include, as part of such commercialization program, activities to assist small business concerns affected by the termination of the space shuttle program to commercialize technologies through SBIR. Activities to assist such small business concerns may include activities described in paragraph (1) and other activities to assist small business concerns making the transition from work relating to the space shuttle program to work in related or unrelated industries.
The amendment was non-controversial and passed on a 427-4 vote. In a statement, she explained the amendment was designed to help companies working on the shuttle program make the transition to other work once the shuttle is retired. “The SBIR program has proven successful in helping innovative businesses find a market for their products, and my amendment will give Shuttle-related small businesses a leg up in the grants process.”
How Kosmas deals with the shuttle retirement and its economic fallout on the Space Coast will be a major factor in her political future. Already one Republican challenger has filed to run against Kosmas in 2010, citing the potential loss of thousands of jobs in the region as one factor. “I’m concerned about where we are in Washington,” Dorothy Hukill said this week. “We stand to lose thousands of jobs with the loss of the space program. These are policies that are not supported by the residents of district 24.”
Kosmos is done if the Obama off-again, on-again, now off-again relationship with space doesn’t get back on-again. The Administration’s cuts to Constellation, which are eerily reflective of those outlined in the Obama campaign’s Education policy statement of 22 November 2007 will devastate an already economically battered area.
Perhaps what’s needed is for a few Congressional Democrats to be ousted from Congressional districts whose constituents are space workers. Such losses, though not tilting the balance of power measurably, would remind the White House that space is important, as important as keeping ones word when one has promised much and delivered very, very little. Platitudes on the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11’s landing do not get us any closer to the Moon–funding does. Candidate Obama promised a good deal of funding to close the Shuttle-Orion/Ares gap and has not come through. Kosmos in trouble? You bet!
[…] Several Republicans have already either filed to run or expressed an interest in running, some citing the effects of the shuttle retirement and the gap on the district’s economy. However, one Republican consultant told the Sentinel that it would be “all but over” […]
small business are great for start-up ventures to know if the market is good”;