Space Policy Events for the Week of April 7-11, 2014 – UPDATE

UPDATE:  The room for Tuesday’s House Appropriations CJS subcommittee hearing on NASA has changed.  Now in 2359 Rayburn. 

The following events may be of interest in the week ahead.  The House and Senate are in session.

During the Week

It’s a busy week in Congress as they try to make progress on a number of legislative issues before going on their Passover/Easter break next week.  Not only are there a number of interesting congressional hearings on tap, but the Space Subcommittee of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee will mark up a new NASA authorization bill on Wednesday, April 9.  The bill doesn’t have a number yet and the draft text is not posted on the committee’s website so far, but the true test will come during the markup to see what amendments are offered.  The markup begins at 9:00 am ET and only one hour is scheduled (there’s a hearing on a different topic in the same room that begins at 10:00 am), suggesting that little debate is expected.  Later that day, across Capitol Hill, the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee will mark up H.R. 2140 (Heinrich) at 2:30 pm ET.  Its purpose is to improve the transition between experimental permits and commercial licenses for commercial reusable vehicles.

As for hearings, of special note are the House Appropriations CJS hearing on NASA’s FY2015 budget request on Tuesday morning, which will also hear from former Attorney General Dick Thornburgh who chaired a study that looked at security (as in access by foreign nationals) at NASA’s centers.  The next day it has a hearing on the budget request for the Department of Commerce, which includes NOAA.  Also on Wednesday, the Senate Commerce Committee’s Science and Space subcommittee will hold a hearing on From Here to Mars that includes Susan Eisenhower among the witnesses.   On Thursday, the Senate Appropriations CJS subcommittee will hear from the Department of Commerce, and the Senate Armed Services Committee will hold its annual posture hearing on the Air Force, which probably will include more discussion of U.S. reliance on Russian rocket engines for the Atlas 5.

All of that is happening on Capitol Hill, but tomorrow (Monday, April 7), the action will be out at the University of Maryland conference center where Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) will speak to the Maryland Space Business Roundtable.  One of NASA’s biggest supporters in Congress, she is also one of the most powerful Senators as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee in addition to chairing the appropriations subcommittee that funds NASA and NOAA.

Here are the events we know about as of Sunday afternoon.

Monday, April 7

• Maryland Space Business Roundtable luncheon featuring Sen. Barbara Mikulski, Univ of Maryland Conf Center, College Park, MD, 11:30 am – 1:30 pm ET

Tuesday, April 8

• ROOM CHANGE House Appropriations CJS Sbmcte Hearing on Security at NASA and NASA’s FY2015 Budget Request, 2359 Rayburn, 9:30 am ET (will be webcast on YouTube and Ustream — see committee’s website for links)
• ISU-DC Space Café Featuring NASA’s Jason Kessler, The Science Club, 1136 19th St, NW, Washington, DC, 7:00 pm ET

Wednesday, April 9

• House SS&T Space Subcommittee markup 2014 NASA Authorization bill, 2318 Rayburn, 9:00 am ET
• Senate Commerce Subcommittee hearing From Here to Mars, 253 Russell, 10:00 am ET
• House Appropriations CJS Sbcmte Hearing on FY2015 Budget Request for Dept of Commerce (incl NOAA), H-309 Capitol, 2:00 pm ET
• NASA Advisory Council Science Committee, telecom, 2:00-6:00 pm ET
• Senate Commerce Committee Markup of Legislation, incl S. 2140 (Heinrich), 253 Russell, 2:30 pm ET

Thursday, April 10

• Senate Armed Services Committee Posture Hearing on Air Force, 106 Dirksen, 9:30 am ET
• Senate Appropriations CJS Sbcmte Hearing on FY2015 Budget Request for Dept of Commerce (incl NOAA), 192 Dirksen, 10:00 am ET