WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Bill Posey (R-Rockledge) has been appointed to the House Science, Space and Technology Committee which has jurisdiction over NASA, space exploration, aerospace, energy research and development, and marine research. Posey’s newly redrawn Congressional District 8 now includes the Kennedy Space Center and is home to the many of the nation’s leading aerospace firms and research facilities.
“Space Coast residents will continue to have a strong advocate in Congress for human space flight, space exploration and technological innovation,” said Congressman Posey. “I’m looking forward to working with incoming Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX), Ranking Member Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) and all the members of the House Science Committee to ensure America remains the world’s leader in space and scientific discovery.”
As a young man, Bill Posey worked on the nation’s Apollo Space Program until being laid-off with thousands of other space workers following the successful Moon landing in 1969. Having lived much of his childhood and all of his adult life in Brevard County, Posey has remained an active leader in space policy for many years serving as a member of the Florida Space Authority Board of Supervisors, the Florida Commercial Space Finance Corporation and as a member of the Board of Directors for Space Florida. “I know how critical our space program and workforce are to our nation’s national security and economic competitiveness. We must continue to press the envelope of human space flight advancement,” said Posey.
In Congress, Posey has worked across the aisle to introduce legislation to strengthen America’s space program. He was the lead sponsor of the American Space Access Act, a bipartisan bill to close the space gap between the Shuttle and Constellation program, the REAL Space Act, bipartisan legislation directing NASA to plan a return to the Moon, and the Race for Space Act, which passed the House last May. Posey is also a prime co-sponsor of the Space Leadership Preservation Act, legislation to create a longer term for the NASA Administrator to insulate the agency from political changes and to ensure that our nation’s long-term space programs have the continuity that is needed to see them through to completion.
