Republican Members of House Science, Space and Technology Committee Announced

Rep. Ralph Hall (R-TX), chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, has announced the Republican members of the committee.

They are:

Ralph M. Hall (TX), Chairman
F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (WI), Vice Chairman
Lamar Smith (TX)
Dana Rohrabacher (CA)
Roscoe Bartlett (MD)
Frank Lucas (OK)
Judy Biggert (IL)
Todd Akin (MO)
Randy Neugebauer (TX)
Michael McCaul (TX)
Paul Broun (GA)
Sandy Adams (FL)
Ben Quayle (AZ)
Chuck Fleischmann (TN)
Scott Rigell (VA)
Steven Palazzo (MS)
Mo Brooks (AL)
Andy Harris (MD)
**five vacancies**

Space program advocates probably will be happy to see so many members from “space” states like Texas, California, Maryland, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, and Virginia. The “five vacancies” undoubtedly indicates that this is not one of the premier committees on which members wish to serve unless they have significant constituent interests at stake.

According to the National Journal’s biographical sketches of the new members of the 112th Congress, Rep. Rigell’s father worked at Kennedy Space Center as director of NASA’s launch vehicle operations. Florida Today says that his father was “in charge of the electrical network system during the launch of Explorer 1” in 1958. For anyone who’s interested, NASA has a charming oral history with his father, Ike Rigell.