Bishop Responds to Sen. Rockefeller’s Comments about Critics of the President’s Plans for NASA

Congressman Rob Bishop (R-UT) issued the following statement in response to Senator Jay Rockefeller's (D-W.Va.) comments that opponents of the President's plan to cancel NASA's manned space flight program are worried solely about jobs.  Senator Rockefeller made the statements yesterday during a hearing held by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.

The President's plan, which Senator Rockefeller supports, will put 30,000 American high-tech space engineers and experienced technicians out of work and negatively impact technologies used in both space exploration and missile defense.  Under the President's plan, the U.S. will relinquish its position as a leader in space technologies, while in turn subsidizing and supporting Russian Space workers associated with the Soyuz. 

"The Senator is right, cutting NASA's manned space flight program isn't just about jobs, it's also about the loss of our missile defense capabilities, technological and innovative edge in space exploration, and national industrial base.  While the job losses are a huge concern to me and many others, the negative impact on our national security and defense capabilities cannot be overlooked.  By ending the new state of the art technologies used in both space exploration and national defense, we put our country in a seriously vulnerable situation.  Once the programs are canceled, we'll lose the advanced technology essential to many aspects of our national defense.  I invite Senator Rockefeller to come to ATK in Utah to explain to thousands of workers who will lose their jobs that, even though this will harm our missile defense and national security capabilities, this is somehow worth their sacrifice. I challenge him to explain to them that the new and innovative technologies they've developed, which have already proven successful, are somehow, as he calls them, just part of NASA's ‘status quo'," said Congressman Bishop. 

Alliant Techsystems (ATK), the builder of the Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Boosters, is the primary contractor for the Ares rocket. ATK employs over 5,000 Utahns. The uniquely skilled industrial base develops not only solid rocket systems that launch astronauts into space, but also U.S. missile defense systems.  Canceling the Ares rocket will destroy vital components of national defense capabilities.

Rockefeller: NASA budget not just about jobs

May 12, 2010
The Hill

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) on Wednesday stressed that it was short-sighted to gauge the White House's proposed 2011 NASA budget solely in terms of the jobs it creates or destroys.

"To many, including myself, defenders of the status quo for NASA -- be they many or be they few -- base their views solely on the job impact," he said. "I don't think we can afford to do that."
"NASA's first mission must be to do what's best for the nation," the chairman continued. "The American people deserve the best from their space program and NASA's role cannot stay static."

Former Astronauts unhappy with Obama space plan

May 12, 2010
Associated Press (AP)

Committee Chairman Sen. Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, reminded critics that NASA's current budget of $18 billion may be a high water mark because of budget constraints and "defenders of the status quo for NASA seem to justify their views solely because of the impact of jobs."