By Dave Ahearn
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) for the next two years will chair the House Science and Technology Committee (HSTC) space and aeronautics subcommittee that oversees NASA and authorizes its programs, the full HSTC decided yesterday.
Gifford’s husband, Mark Kelley, is a NASA astronaut.
The full committee yesterday approved her selection for the subcommittee leadership post, and approved both Democratic and Republican leadership and membership for each of the HSTC subcommittees.
Giffords, in her top-level HSTC subcommittee role, will deal with programs involving many of the largest contractors. Further, she sits on another panel, the House Armed Services Committee (HASC), where she oversees military programs involving many of those same contractors. She sits on the HASC air and land forces subcommittee, which oversees military aircraft such as Air Force strike fighters, and deep strike bombers, but not ICBMs or missile defense.
Her selection means that she will lead the HSTC space and aeronautics subcommittee next year, when NASA comes to a critical decision point as to whether to retire the space shuttle fleet by October that year, as President Bush commanded, or whether to authorize more shuttle flights.
If the shuttles retire next year, that would save money to be used to develop the next-generation U.S. spacecraft system, Orion-Ares, which will replace the shuttles. However, Orion-Ares won’t have its first manned flight until 2015, or 2014 at the earliest, leaving half a decade in which NASA won’t be able to get a single astronaut off the ground, not even to low Earth orbit.
NASA, in the Constellation Program, is leading development of the Orion space capsule (Crew Exploration Vehicle) by Lockheed Martin [LMT]. Orion and the Altair lunar lander will be boosted by the Ares rocket that will have various components developed by Boeing [BA], Alliant Techsystems [ATK], and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, a unit of United Technologies [UTX].
Some on the HSTC, and in the Senate, would like to see increased NASA funding to cover additional shuttle flights beyond the deadline. Former NASA Administrator Mike Griffin estimated running two added shuttle flights per year would cost $3 billion annually, for a total of $15 billion over five years until Orion-Ares begins crewed flights.
While Giffords will play a key role in managing authorizing (enabling) legislation for NASA, deciding which NASA programs will be launched and continued, the committee doesn’t write the appropriations bill that actually pours dollars into NASA and its programs. Rather, the space agency funding measure is written in the House Appropriations Committee commerce, justice, science and related agencies subcommittee.
Giffords was placed in nomination for the subcommittee chair by her fellow Democrats on the committee, and the full committee yesterday confirmed her selection.
“I am honored to take on a leadership role,” Giffords said. “Under the focused and bipartisan guidance of [the full committee chairman], we are aggressively promoting scientific advancements that are key to U.S. competitiveness in the global marketplace. Smart research and development investments in several federal agencies, including NASA, will help create the innovations that will drive economic growth and create new jobs.”
Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.), chairman of the full HSTC, announced Giffords would lead the panel.
“Having gotten to know Gabrielle over the past two years, I think she would be good at anything she does,” Gordon said. “The committee and the nation are fortunate that she has chosen the space and aeronautics subcommittee,” said Gordon. “The issues before the subcommittee are complex, but I know that she will play an effective leadership role in addressing them. The country owes a large part of its technical edge and our economic competitiveness to work done at NASA, and we need to ensure that we maximize NASA’s relevance to addressing the science and technology challenges that will be facing the nation in the coming years.”
Other Democrats serving on the HSTC space and aeronautics subcommittee are Reps. Marcia Fudge of Ohio, Parker Griffith of Alabama, David Wu of Oregon, Donna Edwards of Maryland, Steven Rothman of New Jersey, Baron Hill of Indiana, Charles Wilson of Ohio and Alan Grayson and Suzanne Komas of Florida.
Subcommittee chairs and membership assignments are made based on members’ preferences, in order of seniority as assigned by the Steering and Policy Committee, as space allows, and following the procedure laid out in the Caucus Rules.
Also yesterday, Rep. Ralph Hall of Texas, ranking Republican on the full HSTC, announced subcommittee leadership and membership choices, which the full committee also approved yesterday:
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Rep. Pete Olson, Texas, ranking Republican, whose district includes Johnson Space Center.
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Rep. James Sensenbrenner, Wis.
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Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, Calif.
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Rep. Frank Lucas, Okla.
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Rep. Michael McCaul, Texas
As well, both Gordon and Hall automatically are members of this subcommittee, and the other HSTC subcommittees as well.