House Concludes Debate on NASA Authorization; Vote Pending
The House has just completed debate on the Senate version of the NASA authorization bill. All members who spoke were in favor of passing the Senate bill despite their reservations about it with the exception of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) who made an impassioned plea to defeat it.
Rep. Giffords chairs the subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics and is married to NASA astronaut Mark Kelly. She argued that the Senate bill has a budget busting provision to keep the shuttle operating through FY2011, $500 million that the bill does not provide, and other provisions that undermine a healthy human spaceflight program. Other members who spoke, including Science and Technology Committee chairman Bart Gordon (D-TN), ranking member Ralph Hall (R-TX), and subcommittee ranking member Pete Olson (R-TX) spoke in favor of passing the bill because the alternative of no bill was worse.
Rep. Giffords requested a recorded vote on the bill, which was postponed until later.
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