WASHINGTON – Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Subcommittee on Science and Space, today chaired a hearing on NASA programs and the President’s Fiscal Year 2007 budget request. “I am pleased the president has recommended a 3.2 percent increase in NASA’s budget over last year, including increased funding for development of the Crew Exploration Vehicle. However, the total amount requested is insufficient to do the core scientific mission that will allow NASA to succeed in achieving economic innovation,” Sen. Hutchison said.
As subcommittee chair, Sen. Hutchison used the hearing as an opportunity to allow experts in the field to testify on the issues and impacts the proposed priorities will have on our nation’s future in space exploration. She discussed the possibilities of cooperative efforts between NASA scientific activities and those of other government agencies, such as the Department of Defense, Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation.
“Eliminating duplication and sharing resources in common scientific objectives can help alleviate the pressure for additional funding for NASA,” Sen. Hutchison said. “The witnesses here today are providing a broader understanding of why our nation must not lose critical research and scientific capacity as we carry out NASA’s Vision for Space Exploration.”
Appearing as witnesses before the subcommittee were Dr. Peter Vorhees, Chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern University; Dr. James Pawelczyk, Associate Professor of Physiology, Kinesiology and Medicine at Pennsylvania State University; Dr. Roy Torbert, Director, Space Science center at the University of New Hampshire and General Charles S. Bolden, former NASA Astronaut.
