U.S. President Barack Obama’s Florida campaign organization is calling on his presumptive Republican opponent, Mitt Romney, to take a clear stand on space policy, especially regarding NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, Space Politics reports.
Eric Jotkoff, press secretary for Obama for America Florida, said in a statement emailed May 16 that Romney “has provided unwavering support for the Republican budget plans that would undermine America’s space program and our country’s future as the leader in a new industry.”
The Obama campaign statement attempts to link Romney to a House appropriations bill that calls for narrowing the field of companies competing to provide astronaut transportation to the international space station. Romney’s “allies in Congress are trying to eliminate competition in a nascent private space industry which is driving innovation, moving space exploration forward and creating hundreds of jobs on Florida’s Space Coast,” Jotkoff said.
Marshall Chief: NASA’s Economic Impact in Alabama was $2.8B in 2011 [The Huntsville Times]
