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The House passed a NASA Authorization bill with the support of Congressman Bill Posey (R-Rockledge) which, if not enacted, would have paved the way for the Administration to dismantle key NASA programs without Congressional consent.

“Had the House had failed to pass a NASA bill this week, the Administration, whose NASA plan failed to keep the promise of closing the gap and keeping us first in space, would have been empowered to dismantle key exploration programs even further and shift the program money elsewhere. I wasn’t willing to let that happen. I think that would have created a worst case scenario. So while the bill falls short of legislation that I authored last year which closes the human space flight gap, the good news is that this final bill is at least somewhat of a departure from the plan outlined by the Administration in February.

“Rather than leaving the fate of our nation’s space program – which is critical to our national security and future economic competitiveness – in the hands of unelected bureaucrats who are accountable to no one, Congress needed to act. I will work hard to improve this bill in the coming months and when the Congress convenes in January so that we can keep America first in space.

“I am also disappointed that the bill sends NASA back to the drawing board to design the next space launch system because I believe that will lengthen the gap. However, I will work with my colleagues to see that NASA closely follows the directive in the bill, to utilize to the maximum extent, the work that has already been done on Ares I, as doing so will shorten the gap.”

“Over the past 18 months, the Administration has tried to dismantle key elements of our human space flight program and Congress was slow to respond. Now, here we are at the eleventh hour with a take it or leave it proposition. That is not the best way to govern and I am deeply disappointed in this dysfunctional process.”