House Science Committee Marks Up Space Station Authorization Bill

“It tells NASA and the world that the space station is the highest priority in terms of funding.” -- Rep. James Sensenbrenner

One day before NASA’s space shuttle performed its historic link-up in space with the Russian MIR, the House Science Committee passed legislation authorizing funding through completion of the international space station project. The bill, H.R. 1601, was debated by the committee on June 28, along with a series of other authorization bills.

The purpose of the multi-year authorization, said Space Subcommittee Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), is to provide stable funding for the oft-redesigned project, allowing NASA to keep its commitments to contractors and to its international partners. The bill would authorize $13.141 billion for the station over the next seven years, with completion expected in 2002. Funding could not exceed $2.121 billion per year.

While most committee members supported the station itself, many were concerned that it would cannibalize the remainder of NASA’s activities. This caused a number of Democrats to oppose the multi-year legislation, fearing that NASA’s science, aeronautics and technology programs would be forced to bear the brunt of budget cuts over the seven years. The Clinton Administration’s plans call for NASA to take a cut of $5 billion from its expected budget profile over the next five years. The House budget resolution would require an even greater reduction. (Numbers for the House-Senate compromise resolution are not available yet). Former Science Committee Chairman George Brown (D-CA) argued that it was “neither wise nor prudent to remove the space station from annual review while other NASA programs are on the table.”

As he has done in previous years, station foe Tim Roemer (D-IN) offered an amendment to cancel the program. The station handily survived the vote (11-33) on what Sensenbrenner called a “recurring annual ritual.” Then, as in the June 9 subcommittee mark-up (see FYI #77), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) offered an amendment to predicate funding of the space station on the assurance of adequate budgets for other space agency programs. The amendment would require that NASA receive at least a specified appropriation for each year, or that the NASA administrator certify “that a balanced space and aeronautics program has been maintained.” If these conditions were not met, Congress would be notified, and could reconsider funding for the space station.

Brown called the amendment “sine qua non for my support” of the station. However, full committee chairman Robert Walker (R-PA) charged that the amendment would hold “a popular program hostage” to get higher budget levels for NASA. He said Jackson Lee was “attempting to use broad-based support for the space station to drive the NASA budget,” and added ruefully, “I wish it could be so.”

The Jackson Lee amendment failed, 11-30. The space station authorization bill was passed and sent on to the House floor, with Brown voting against it. No date has yet been set for consideration by the full House, but appropriators on the VA/HUD subcommittee are scheduled to draft their bill on July 10.