Congressional Reaction to Space Summit

Which track for NASA?, Huntsville Times
“President Barack Obama plans to affirm his administration’s commitment to space exploration and NASA next month in Florida, the White House said Monday, but the space agency plan cancels the 5-year-old Marshall Space Flight Center-managed Ares rocket program. And Obama’s plans are at odds with Alabama’s senior senator on Capitol Hill – Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Tuscaloosa.”
Analysts point to politics over Obama’s NASA conference, Houston Chronicle
“Nelson took to the Senate floor late Monday to welcome Obama’s April 15 visit and praise his plans to seize leadership of the space program, even as he went on to excoriate unnamed presidential aides and “the budget boys from OMB” for allowing the chief executive to create “the perception that the president had killed the manned space program.” Nelson added pointedly: “There is outright hostility (in Florida) toward President Obama and his proposals for the nation’s human space program.”
Nelson hopes Obama clarifies space vision, Florida Today
“Despite a commitment to extend the life of the International Space Station to 2020 and increase NASA funding by $6 billion over five years, Nelson said last month’s poor rollout of the administration’s new direction for NASA allowed critics to frame it as the end of U.S. human spaceflight. “He’s got to clear that up,” Nelson said. “That is one of the misconceptions that the president is going to have to correct.”
Obama Plans Florida Forum to Discuss NASA’s Future, NY Times
“The president’s upcoming space meeting here in Florida provides a chance for meaningful progress,” said Representative Suzanne M. Kosmas, whose district includes the Kennedy Space Center. She requested a meeting when she and others in the state Congressional delegation met last month with Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff, and John P. Holdren, Mr. Obama’s science adviser.”