WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Fritz Hollings offered the following comments today on NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe’s decision to promote Mr. Ralph Roe to Director of the new NASA Engineering and Safety Center:

“Here they go again. Mr. O’Keefe’s decision to promote Mr. Roe, who was at the very center of the agency’s controversial safety decisions, just reinforces my belief that NASA cannot reform itself. We need a truly independent commission, like the one I’ve proposed, to ensure fundamental change in NASA’s safety culture.”

On November 5, Hollings introduced the National Space Commission Act (S. 1821), which creates an independent panel of presidentially-appointed experts to ensure that NASA fully implements the safety reforms and recommendations made by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board. The Commission would also work to develop a new, broad vision for America’s future in space.

SUMMARY: National Space Commission Act (S. 1821)