Washington, D.C. – Today the House voted 347-46 in favor of the final Veterans Affairs, Housing, Urban Development and Independent
Agencies FY 2002 Appropriations Bill. The bill barely increased the NASA budget enough to keep pace with inflation. Specifically, the bill
provides $135 million less for human space flight than the House of Representatives passed version earlier this year.
“While I was happy to see that money was still provided for repair work on the VAB doors, the bill was closer to the Senate appropriations
bill which carved out money from human space flight and diverted it to places like Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland,” remarked
Rep Weldon.
The final NASA spending bill did keep $25 million for VAB repairs and spends $207 million for Shuttle upgrades, but allowed for a cut of
over $280 million from human space flight to be transferred to the aeronautics, earth and space science accounts.
“This Democrat-controlled Senate clearly has not made human space flight and NASA in general as high a priority as my colleagues and I
have in the House of Representatives. I fear this inattention on their part may have long-term consequences,” concluded Weldon.
