Happy New Year!   Welcome to our first 2013 events of interest.    The following events may be of interest in the coming week.  After their marathon sessions last week as the 112th Congress ended and the 113th began, the House and Senate both are in recess this week.  The House returns for legislative business next Monday, the 14th; the Senate on the 21st for the inauguration.

During the Week

Three major conferences are taking place this week:

• the American Astronomical Society (AAS) winter meeting January 6-10 in Long Beach, CA where scientists present recent discoveries in astronomy and astrophysics and NASA holds “town hall” meetings to engage with that community.  The NASA town halls and press briefings are shown in the day-by-day list below.
• the American Meteorological Society’s (AMS’s) annual meeting in Austin, TX, also January 6-10.
• the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) annual Aerospace Sciences Meeting in Grapevine, TX (near Dallas), January 7-10.

Also of particular note for those interested in planetary science is the Outer Planets Assessment Group (OPAG) meeting in Atlanta on Thursday-Friday, January 10-11.   In the most recent edition of the Planetary Exploration Newsletter, the chair and vice-chair of the DPS urge planetary science community members to listen to Jim Green’s presentation at 8:30 am Eastern Standard Time (EST) on January 10, which will be webcast.  Instructions on how to register for and listen to the webcast are on the OPAG website.   Green apparently will address recent community concerns about the planetary science budget, especially for research and analysis (R&A), although he obviously will not be able to talk about the FY2014 budget, since it has not yet been released.  There is enough uncertainty about the FY2013 budget in any case, with the sequester being delayed for two months, so the Damoclean sword continues to hang over the federal budget.

Sunday-Thursday, January 6-10

• American Astronomical Society Winter Meeting, Long Beach, CA (note NASA Town Hall meetings and press briefings on specific days below)
• American Meteorological Society annual meeting, Austin, TX

Monday-Thursday, January 7-10

• AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting, Grapevine, TX (near Dallas)

Monday, January 7

• NASA events at AAS meeting
  • Exoplanets Coming and Going Everywhere press briefing, 10:30 am Pacific Standard Time (PST)
  • Physics of the Cosmos (PCOS) Gravitational Wave and X-Ray Astronomy Town Hall, 12:45 pm PST
  • The Hubble Ultra Deep Field Gets Deeper press briefing, 12:45 pm PST
  • A High Energy Astrophysics Extravaganza press briefing, 2:30 pm PST
  • Kepler Town Hall, 6:30 pm PST

Tuesday, January 8

• NASA events at AAS meeting
  •  NASA Town Hall, 12:45 pm PST
  • Journey to the Center of the Galaxy press briefing, 12:45 pm PST
  • Exoplanets from Dust Grains to Brown Dwarfs, 2:30 pm PST

Wednesday, January 9

• NASA events at AAS meeting
  • James Webb Space Telescope Town Hall, 12:45 pm PST
  • Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOPHIA) Town Hall, 12:45 pm PST
• NASA press briefing on commercial crew update, Kennedy Space Center, FL, 2:00 pm EST (watch on NASA TV)
• Space Deterrence and Crisis Stability, featuring Bruce MacDonald of the U.S. Institute of Peace, Stimson Center, Washington, DC, 3:00 pm EST

Thursday, January 10

• NASA event at AAS meeting
  • Galaxies in the Extreme press briefing, 12:45 pm PST

Thursday-Friday, January 10-11

• NASA Outer Planets Assessment Group (OPAG), Atlanta, GA

 

In these hectic last days of the 112th Congress — which will end by noon on Thursday when the 113th Congress begins — it can be tough to keep track of where legislation stands.   Here’s the status of key pending bills that could affect the space program as of 4:00 pm ET today, New Year’s Day 2013.

• American Taxpayer Relief Act (H.R. 8) — or more descriptively referred to as the fiscal cliff avoidance act since it not only deals with taxes but delays the sequester for two months.    Passed Senate at 2:00 am this morning.   Still must pass House.  If they change it — and rumors are that they plan to —  the bill will have to go back to the Senate.  If the House passes it with no changes, it must be signed by the President.   So the country did fall off the much-feared fiscal cliff and is still at the bottom waiting to see what happens next.
• FY2013 National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 4310) — Final version has passed the House and Senate.  It was presented to the President for his signature on December 30.   He’s expected to sign it.  Among other things, it eases export controls on satellites.
• FY2013 Intelligence Authorization Act (S. 3454) — Final version has passed the House and Senate.  The bill now must be presented to the President for signature, which is expected to happen.
• Extending Launch Liability Indemnification/INKSNA/Other Matters (H.R. 6586) — House passed its version, dealing only with indemnification, in November.  Senate passed its version in the wee hours this morning, completely replacing the House text.  The Senate version extends indemnification for only one year instead of two as in the House version.  The Senate version also deals with two issues not addressed in the House version:   extending the waiver for NASA from the Iran, North Korea, Syria Nonproliferation Act (INKSNA) and a sense of Congress that NASA should not take money from SLS/Orion to pay for commercial crew or vice versa.   The bill now must return to the House for consideration.  
• Renaming Dryden Flight Research Center after Neil Armstrong (H.R. 6612) — Passed House last night; needs to be considered by Senate.
• Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Hurricane Sandy Relief (H.R. 1) —  Passed Senate December 28, needs to be considered by House.   Includes $15 million for NASA and about $500 millon for NOAA (but not necessarily for NOAA’s satellite programs).

The House is also considering a House Concurrent Resolution condemning North Korea’s missile launch (H. Con. Res. 145).  It was debated by the House yesterday, but the vote was postponed to today.  It would also need to pass the Senate.  Concurrent resolutions are not “legislative” because they do not become laws signed by the President.  Instead, they are expressions of opinion, fact, principle or purpose by the House and Senate.

UPDATE, January 1, 2013:   The House passed the FY2013 Intelligence Authorization bill on December 31, clearing it for the President.   It also passed the bill renaming Dryden FRC after Neil Armstrong; the Senate still must act on it.  It did not vote on the North Korea bill or the emergency supplemental.

ORIGINAL STORY, December 30, 2012:  As everyone awaits action on the fiscal cliff, the House has scheduled votes tomorrow on the FY2013 intelligence authorization act and a bill to rename NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center after Neil Armstrong.

The Senate passed the intelligence authorization act, S. 3454, on Friday after consulting with House colleagues to craft it to ensure it would pass both chambers.

The bill, H.R. 6612,  to rename Dryden after the late Neil Armstrong, who was a test pilot there before entering the history books as the first man to walk on the Moon, was scheduled for House consideration two weeks ago, but it never came up for a vote.

The House also has scheduled a vote on a House concurrent resolution, H. Con. Res. 145, condemning North Korea for what the resolution calls a missile launch on December 12.   That launch placed a satellite into orbit, the first successful space launch for that country although reports from western observers indicated the satellite was tumbling and therefore not operational.   Still, it was the first time in four attempts that North Korea succeeded in getting anything into orbit.  Nevertheless, it is widely viewed more as a test of a capability to deliver a nuclear warhead to Earth-based targets than the “peaceful” launch of an earth observing satellite as North Korea claims. 

No vote on H.R. 1, the emergency supplemental appropriations bill for victims of Hurricane Sandy, is scheduled.  That bill includes $15 million for NASA and almost $500 million for NOAA.

 

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) told the Senate just before 6:00 pm ET that talks with Republicans would continue on how to avert the fiscal cliff. The statement came after a tense day where earlier he had said the talks were at an impasse because Republicans wanted to add a provision that would change how Social Security cost of living increases are calculated.

As the afternoon began, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) criticized Reid for taking so long to respond to a proposal Republicans made the previous evening. McConnell told the Senate that he had sent a proposal to Reid about 7:00 pm ET Saturday evening, but had received no response by 2:00 pm this afternoon.  Reid then took the floor and replied that he had no counteroffer to make.  While complimenting McConnell for negotiating in good faith, Reid said the two were simply too far apart on “some pretty big issues.”

The focus of the talks has been on tax rates and other tax breaks that will expire at midnight tomorrow.  Aides to Reid were quoted as saying that now is not the time to bring Social Security benefits into the debate.

The Senate recessed to allow each party to caucus and determine how to proceed. Republicans emerged insisting that they did not know that the proposed change — using the chained price index to calculate cost of living increases, which would reduce those increases — was a dealbreaker and they would take the issue off the table.  About two hours later, Reid returned to the floor and said he was happy to hear it, and talks would continue.  He said there is still time for a deal, but his manner did not convey optimism.

As for the automatic spending cuts that will take place on January 2 — the sequester — several media sources that closely follow Capitol Hill politics are reporting that there is virtually no chance that Congress will act to stop it.  How long it would take for the draconian cuts — 9.4 percent for defense, 8.2 percent for the rest of discretionary spending — to impact government and contractor personnel and programs is a matter of debate.  Since it begins with cuts to spending in FY2013, which is already underway, people are getting increasingly nervous.

Nothing is certain until the deadlines pass, of course, and even then the 113th Congress — which begins on Thursday — can fix problems left by the 112th.  Aphorisms like “it’s always darkest before the dawn” or “it ain’t over till the fat lady sings” may be cliches, but they also often are true.  If the stock market continues its decline tomorrow, the parties may be motivated to find a solution.

 

With half of the 48 hours gone already, Senate Democratic and Republican leaders still have not reached a deal to avert the fiscal cliff.   Meanwhile, Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) President Marion Blakey issued a stern warning today about the impact on the aerospace sector if sequestration goes into effect.

After a meeting at the White House yesterday,  Senator Democratic Leader Harry Reid (NV) and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (KY) agreed to spend the weekend trying to reach an agreement that would pass the Senate and, hopefully, the House before the clock strikes midnight on Monday, December 31.  A deal is expected to be presented to their respective caucuses tomorrow afternoon.  

The Senate was in session Thursday and Friday, but not today.  The House has been in recess since before Christmas.  Both chambers are scheduled to meet tomorrow in a rare Sunday session.  House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) alerted Members that the House could remain in session through January 2.   That is the last possible day for the 112th Congress.  The 113th Congress, with new and returning members elected on November 6, begins on Thursday.  All pending legislation dies at the end of a Congress.   Democratic Senators reportedly are drafting legislation to be introduced as soon as the 113th Congress convenes to cut tax rates if no agreement is reached before then.

Few details have been made public about what progress is being made other than that tax rates remain at the heart of the disagreement.   Republicans have insisted all along that tax rates should remain the same for all income levels while President Obama wants tax rates for the wealthiest individuals to return to levels prior to the George W. Bush Administration.  President Obama is calling for rates for those who earn over $250,000 to go up, but recently indicated he would compromise at $400,000.   House Speaker Boehner attempted to win support from his Republican caucus for the higher rates to apply only to those with incomes $1 million or more, but that was rejected.

The tax increases — not only from the expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts, but a number of other expiring provisions such as adjustments to the Alternative Minimum Tax, estate tax reductions, tax credits for college tuition, and the payroll tax holiday — are only one part of the fiscal cliff scenario.   Extended unemployment benefits will expire and Medicare reimbursements to doctors will be cut if Congress does not act. 

Another leg of the stool is sequestration — deep cuts to defense and non-defense discretionary spending.  AIA has been leading the charge all year on highlighting the dire impacts to the defense aerospace sector as well as NASA and NOAA if the spending cuts take place.  Under the Budget Control Act (BCA) of 2011, defense spending would be cut 9.4 percent and NASA and NOAA (and other government non-defense discretionary spending) would be cut 8.2 percent. 

Blakey starkly warned today that if Congress does not fix the sequestration problem it will be a “grave dereliction of duty.”  Agreeing that budget cuts are needed to deal with the deficit, she insisted that sequestration is “the wrong way to do it” and a “mindless meataxe approach that will cause immense disruption and harm our economy and national security.”

Republicans agreed to the defense cuts when the BCA was passed in August 2011, but changed their minds this year and now are seeking to exempt defense from the cuts and reduce government spending elsewhere in exchange, such as by entitlement reform or changes to the tax code (but not tax rates).  Democrats want at least some cuts to defense, for which spending mushroomed during the past decade with the Iraq and Afghan wars.

President Obama said in his weekly address today that if all else fails, he wants the Senate to vote on a modest package that would keep tax rates at their current levels for people with incomes under $250,000, extend unemployment insurance, and set the stage for future progress on the other issues.  He said he believes such a package could pass both the House and Senate if it is allowed to come to a vote.  “That’s the way this is supposed to work,” he said, adding that “We just can’t afford a politically self-inflicted wound to our economy.”

In the Republican response, Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO) criticized Democrats on a broad range of issues ending with his own warning against going over the fiscal cliff.  He gave no hint of what compromise might be in the works, reiterating Republican assertions that it is up to the President to lead.

In essence, today seems like politics as usual.  For those who want to avoid falling off the fiscal cliff, one can only hope that the behind-the-scenes deliberations are more productive.