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Last night Congressman Bill Posey (R-Rockledge) took to the floor of the House of Representatives to deliver a speech about the benefits of America’s investment in space and the need for Congress to revamp NASA’s budget to close the human space flight gap. Below is the text of Congressman Posey’s speech:

“Mr. Speaker, On Monday, I had the great privilege of watching the launch of the Space Shuttle Atlantis at Kennedy Space Center.

“As a resident of Brevard County, Florida, it is an experience, of which I never tire… and one which I earnestly encourage everyone to see… especially Members of Congress and the President while they still can.

“While we have the grandeur of Monday’s launch, I find the proposed NASA budget very disappointing. This budget plan essentially flat lines NASA’s budget for the next five years, and appears to spawn an abrupt end to the Space Shuttle in 2010.

“Washington is spending trillions of dollars on other programs, but has not seen fit to make human space flight a priority.

“NASA will attempt to complete the remaining flights of the Space Station manifest in 2010 within the constraints of its budgetary strait jacket…. However, any flights that extend beyond September 2010 will be funded by borrowing money from the next generation vehicle, The Constellation – under the just released 2010 budget plan. This plan is unacceptable to me, and I hope it is to you.

“Also disappointing is that the proposed open-ended review for the Shuttle’s successor was not begun months ago. Time is of the essence as critical decisions are being made today that will impact NASA for the next several decades.

“America’s Space Shuttle has only eight, possibly nine more launches. After that, many of the world’s greatest engineers and technicians will be laid off from their jobs, and American taxpayers will pay the Russians hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars to take American astronauts to the International Space Station.

“This ironic arrangement is likely to last for at a minimum three years and very likely longer, until the next generation launch vehicle comes online. Various memos and budget blueprints in Washington may portray this arrangement with the Russians as an unwelcome necessity, but it has become a necessity only due to lack of America’s will and priority.

“It is wishful thinking on bureaucratic whiteboards that America can lay off this invaluable workforce and, three years or more later, regroup them and rebrand them in the Shuttle’s successor program.

“The transition is unlikely to be seamless, and I speak from experience. In my younger days I worked on the Apollo 11 program. I had the best job in the whole world that anyone my age could have –inspecting rockets bound for the moon! But when the program came to an end, it came abruptly and I and many of my fellow workers… and some of the brightest minds in the world, were given pink slips.

“Mr. Speaker, Monday’s launch represents the one thing the United States is undeniably, unequivocally and universally respected for around the globe. Friends and foes alike acknowledge that the United States is the leader in space.

“So, it is astonishing to me that we are so near the brink of yielding this military and economic high ground to Russia, China or someone else. And let us bear in mind that the Chinese are not going to the moon solely to collect rock samples.

“History has shown a progression in regards to our security which we ignore at our peril.

“It started years ago when whoever could swing the biggest bone controlled the world as they knew it.

“Then whoever had the best spears & shields would rule.

“Then those with the biggest army triumphed.

“Later, whoever had the best Navy commanding the high seas became the most powerful nation.

“Then in WWI whoever built the most tanks controlled the future. And, in WWII whoever controlled the skies.

“Today, whoever controls space controls the earth.

“Today, conflict between nations has also evolved beyond bayonets, bullets and bombs. Today we are in an economic war of survival. I fear that many take our position for granted and assume that our prosperity will continue indefinitely into the future because we have been blessed with prosperity thus far.

“President Obama has said that he wants half of our nation’s GDP to come from high-tech. You don’t get any more high-tech than space.

“We take for granted the countless spin-offs and inventions from NASA, which has been issued over 6,000 patents.

“NASA’s “spinoff database” lists over 1,600 items since 1976. Farmers rely on weather satellites and GPS. We don’t give a second thought to the use cell phones, blackberries, laptops and even Velcro.

“I can remember when a computer processor used to take up an entire room. Now it costs five bucks at Wal-Mart and fits in your pocket. We stand to benefit from important research and discoveries in health care as we conduct experiments in zero gravity where organisms mutate 400 times faster

“Mr. Speaker, nothing represents the future and what is possible for mankind more than space. The future is not yet written. We have not yet reached the point of no return. The NASA budget is not etched in stone. We can make the right decisions to reduce the space gap, minimize the loss of our shuttle workforce and move ahead with the Shuttle’s successor.

“These objectives are compatible, desirable, and overlap with the President’s intentions to strengthen technology as our economic base.

“In conclusion, I call on the leaders of this body to revamp the NASA budget, and to think about the implications should we travel down the path as currently set. America can do better and future generations of Americans deserve better.”