Advice to Obama From Senator Bill Nelson

Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) offered President Obama a lot of advice about what he should say at the April 15 “space conference” the White House is planning for April 15 in Florida. In a speech on the Senate floor yesterday (pages S1254-1256), he reiterated many of the concerns he expressed during a Feburary 24 hearing. Basically he feels there are many good elements of the FY2011 budget request, but he faults the roll-out of the request as creating the misperception that President Obama is killing the U.S. human spaceflight program. He sees the April 15 conference as the President’s opportunity to clarify and amplify his position, for example by explcitly saying that human exploration of Mars is the goal, perhaps with intermediate stops along the way. He urges the President to:

“Stop listening just to the budget boys and OMB. Listen to the cries of an American people who once again want to be challenged and inspired, as President John F. Kennedy inspired the Nation and the Nation came together and did what was considered to be almost the impossible. It wasn’t impossible. It was extraordinary, and it was an American achievement..”