UPDATE 6: Senate Committee Approves NASA Authorization Bill

UPDATE 6: A video of a press conference with Senators Rockefeller, Hutchison, Nelson, Vitter and others is available on Senator Nelson’s website.

UPDATE 5: Statement by Senator Vitter from his website.

UPDATE 4: A section-by-section analysis of the bill prepared by committee staff is available here.

UPDATE 3: Senator Hutchison’s opening statement can now be viewed on YouTube and a Republican press statement is available on the committee’s website.

UPDATE 2: Senator Nelson’s press release with a more detailed summary of the bill is now posted on his website.

UPDATE: A link to commitee chairman Senator Jay Rockefeller’s opening remarks, including a summary of the key points of the bill, has been added.

The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee adopted the NASA authorization bill crafted by Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) and other members of the committee on both sides of the aisle. A number of amendments were adopted, but there was little discussion of the bill or the amendments — just repeated accolades from Democrats and Republicans on how well they worked together and how much better their bill is compared to the Obama proposal. The basic outlines of the legislation have been known for some time, but the committee has not yet publicly released the text. Senator Nelson stated that the Senate Appropriations Committee will mark up the appropriations bill that includes NASA next week.

The opening statement of Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), who chairs the full committee, is available on the committee’s website along with a brief summary of the key points of the bill.

Check back here for more details as they become available.