Wolf Demands to Know Why Chinese will be at CEOS Meeting at NASA Langley

Wolf Demands to Know Why Chinese will be at CEOS Meeting at NASA Langley

Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), chairman of the House subcommittee that funds NASA, wants to know why NASA is allowing Chinese to attend a meeting at NASA’s Langley Research Center next week.  Wolf authored language in NASA’s funding bill prohibiting the agency from having any dealings with China unless certain conditions are met.

The letter states that NASA will be hosting a meeting of the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) Strategic Implementation Team at Langley Research Center (in Hampton Roads, VA) that includes representatives of the People’s Republic of China.  The meeting is scheduled for March 12-14 and NASA has not provided a required certification to Congress about the meeting, he asserts.

By law (P.L. 112-55), neither NASA nor the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) may “develop, design, plan, promulgate, implement, or execute a bilateral policy, program, order, or contract of any kind to participate, collaborate or coordinate bilaterally in any way with China or any Chinese-owned company” including “the hosting of official Chinese visitors at facilities belonging to or utilized by NASA.”   The only exceptions are if the activity is specifically authorized by Congress or NASA or OSTP certifies to Congress 14 days in advance that the activity will not result in the transfer of “technology, data, or other information with national security or economic security implications to China or a Chinese-owned company.”

Wolf states that NASA has not provided such a certification with regard to the March 12-14 meeting and it is less than 14 days away. 

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