The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) issued the following statement from AIAA Executive Director Dan Dumbacher:
“AIAA applauds the final passage of the FY22 Consolidated Appropriations Act. We are pleased this omnibus spending package is now in place to fund the federal government through September 2022. The $1.5 trillion bill includes $728.5 billion for the DOD ($119.2 billion for RDT&E), $18.1 billion for the FAA, $24 billion for NASA, $1 billion for NIST, $5.9 billion for NOAA, and $8.8 billion for the NSF. In addition, the legislation includes approximately $14 billion in emergency funding to support humanitarian, security, and economic assistance for Ukraine and our Central European partners following the Russian invasion.
While these appropriations are welcome, they come nearly six months into the current fiscal year and after two continuing resolutions. Unfortunately, such tactics have become commonplace in Congress.
AIAA—the world’s largest aerospace professional society—continues to call on lawmakers to return to a regular process, passing appropriations on time and continuing to provide initiatives for recovery from the pandemic to ensure that the United States retains global aerospace leadership. The U.S. aerospace and defense industry is a multi-trillion-dollar enterprise that supports millions of direct and indirect jobs nationally and many more globally. It is imperative for Congress to provide stable and predictable funding for federal programs and organizations as we rebuild our aging infrastructure, support and grow our workforce while ensuring COVID-19 safety measures, and develop technologies that advance the state of the art and fuel economic growth.”
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Media contact: Rebecca B. Gray, RebeccaG@aiaa.org, 804.397.5270
About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit www.aiaa.org or follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram