The Aerospace Industries Association has urged President George W. Bush and Sen. John F. Kerry to support funding of the NASA budget request of $16.2 billion dollars for fiscal year 2005. The funding request includes a proposed increase of $866 million to advance the critical work of safely returning the Shuttle to flight, completing assembly of the International Space Station, and rekindling robotic and human programs for exploration activities beyond low-Earth orbit. AIA has also asked the candidates to support continued funding for NASA’s aeronautics research program. In letters to the President and to Sen. Kerry, AIA President and CEO John W. Douglass said, “Modernizing NASA’s research infrastructure is extremely important as U.S. manufacturers of civil aircraft are competing against strong European competitors with high levels of government assistance.”
In the letters, the association also said that AIA has consistently and strongly supported NASA’s budget, and has called for greater investment in earth science, space science, and aeronautics.
Douglass said, “In the face of aggressive overseas competition, America’s aerospace industry is at a crossroads. With successful funding of NASA’s FY05 budget request, your Administration will demonstrate its determination to maintain the leadership of the United States as an international aerospace power that can produce economic, scientific, and educational benefits for future generations of Americans.”
Copies of the letters sent by John W. Douglass, President and CEO of AIA
Visit AIA’s homepage at www.aia-aerospace.org
P.A. Rel. 2004-20
07.07.04
Contact: Janet Neale, AIA
(703) 358-1076
