Congressional Letter to Obama Seeks Funding Increase for NASA

Congressional Letter to Obama Seeks Funding Increase for NASA

Representatives Suzanne Kosmas (D-FL) and Ken Calvert (R-CA) took the lead in sending a bipartisan letter to President Obama yesterday arguing for a $3 billion per year funding increase for NASA. The letter was signed by 81 Members of Congress from across the country.

The letter references the “$3 billion annual increase recommended” by the Augustine committee, but as noted in an earlier SpacePolicyOnline.com article, the Augustine committee instead recommended a $3 billion increase between FY2011 and FY2014, not $3 billion each of those years. Discovering the committee’s meaning on this issue is challenging, however, so it is not surprising that confusion continues. Many NASA advocates think that a $3 billion per year increase is the right number in any case, though the likelihood of the Obama Administration requesting such an increase appears slim.

Most members of the Texas congressional delegation sent a letter to the President in October asking him to spend up to an additional $3 billion in stimulus funding on NASA. The stimulus bill already provides $1 billion to the agency.

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