posey.house.gov
Washington,
February 1, 2010
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Congressman Bill Posey (R-Rockledge) released the following statement in
response to NASA’s Fiscal Year 2011 budget briefing this afternoon:
“I am disappointed with the President’s FY 2011 budget proposals for NASA which fails to match up
with his 2008 promise to keep America first in space and to close the human space flight gap. The
budget locks in the human space flight gap by failing to add any additional Shuttle flights and has no
realistic timeline for ending the space gap and returning Americans to space on American launch
vehicles.
“By failing to set a clear vision and provide sufficient resources, this represents a giant step backwards.
Many of us had hoped that a stronger budget commitment to space might have been included, but this
budget simply falls far short of what is needed for a robust human space flight program. I am
concerned that this budget represents a slow death to our nation’s human space flight program.
“This budget effectively ends America’s leadership in human space exploration. While the
Administration has thrown hundreds of billions of dollars into a failed stimulus bill, it has failed to
give NASA the vision and mission to help America lead the world in space.
“Additionally, claims made today by NASA officials in Washington that every center ‘will really
thrive’ rings hollow for much of the workforce at Kennedy Space Center. I have long been a supporter
of upgrading our ranges and look forward to the details of the plan, but we must recognize that this will
only soften the blow to our community only slightly in the near-term. While many promises are being
made today with the rollout of the budget, it is important to keep in mind that already we have seen
that this Administration’s actions have fallen short of its promises over the last year.
“While I commend the efforts to encourage U.S.-based commercial space endeavors and I agree that
we should use them when they become available for getting our astronauts to the International Space
Station, I am very concerned about NASA placing all of its eggs in that basket as the budget does.
“Finally, I remain concerned about growing other NASA missions, including moving $2 billion
additional into the Earth Sciences mission at the expense of human space flight and exploration. As
that mission grows, it will be difficult to shift the necessary resources to fund a more robust
exploration program.”