NASA Budget Hearings Today

This morning’s hearing of the Subcommittee on Space Markup of the NASA Authorization Act of 2013 was a partisan affair with an outcome that surprised no one.
Chairman Palazzo and other Republicans, including a very vocal Mo Brooks (R-Alabama), railed upon the Democrats for the current fiscal mess and said until such a time as the budget is dealt with NASA’s budget would be curtailed.
Representative Donna Edwards (D-Maryland) presented her amendment to the Authorization bill that would have increased NASA’s funding and while other Democrats used their time to support the amendment, the Republican majority on the committee voted it down 12-9 with all votes being on party line.
One note of interest from the hearing is that Representative Rohrabacher stated he voted for the Bill with the understanding changes would be made that address his concerns before the final Bill goes to the full committee for markup. Chairman Palazzo agreed. We’ll have to wait and see what changes are made for the final markup but it doesn’t appear that any of Rep. Edwards changes from the amendment will make it into the final Bill.
– Listen to the hearing (MP3).
– The Subcommittee on Space will meet to markup the NASA Authorization Act of 2013 (PDF)
– Statement of Space Subcommittee Chairman Steven Palazzo (R-Miss.) Space Subcommittee Markup of
Committee Print, NASA Authorization Act of 2013
– Space Subcommittee Chairman Steven Palazzo (R-Miss.) on Edwards Amendment – With Charts (PDF)
– Opening Statement Rep. Donna Edwards Subcommittee on Space Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
– Subcommittee Approves NASA Reauthorization Bill – Maintains Priority Programs and Provides Consistent Direction to NASA
– Republicans Approve Bill That Harms NASA
The other hearing this morning was the Subcommittee Markup – FY 2014 Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Bill
– FY 2014 Commerce, Justice, and Science Bill – Subcommittee Draft (PDF)