NASA Authorization Bills Pass Senate, House Committees

Bills to authorize NASA programs have been marked up by committees in both the House and Senate, and now await possible floor action in both chambers. If the House and Senate both pass their bills, and the differences are worked out in conference, it would be the first time Congress will be prepared to send NASA authorization legislation to the President since 1992. The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee marked up its bill (S. 342) first, on May 5. The House Science Committee followed with mark-up of its bill (H.R. 1654) on May 13. Both bills would authorize NASA through FY 2002, but they differ in a number of ways.

For FY 2000, the Senate Commerce Committee would approve less for the International Space Station (ISS) than the House, and cap the funds available for its assembly at $21.9 billion. Recent testimony indicated that assembly costs could reach $24-26 billion. The Senate bill calls on NASA to develop a plan to remove Russia from the station’s critical path, and states that “no funds or in-kind payments shall be transferred to...the Russian Government or any Russian contractor to perform work...which the Russian Government pledged, at any time, to provide at its expense” (excluding purchase or modification of the Service Module, Functional Cargo Block, and Russian launch vehicles and launch services). The House bill would approve the full FY 2000 ISS request. It would also fence off some funds to be used for research on board the ISS, and would prohibit any funds from being used for design or development of a Trans-hab inflatable habitation module.

The House bill’s funding levels for science programs are affected by the committee’s decision to exclude all funding for such programs as High Performance Computing and Communications (HPCC) and Information Technology (IT), to be authorized later in a separate bill. Even with those funds removed, the House committee would authorize Space Science above the requested level for FY 2000; the Senate committee sets the authorization at the level of the request. The Senate committee also authorizes Earth Science, and Life and Microgravity Sciences and Applications, at the requested FY 2000 levels. The House bill would authorize less than the request for Earth Science, and would authorize more than requested for Life and Microgravity research.

Partisan controversy broke out at the House Science mark-up over the Triana program, an Earth Science mission to view the entire sunlit disk of the Earth. The concept was suggested by Vice President Gore. Republicans charged that the project was not peer-reviewed until after a decision was made to go forward with it; Democrats accused the Republicans of opposing Triana because of Gore’s involvement. Rep. Dave Weldon (R-FL) and George Nethercutt (R-WA) succeeded in getting an amendment passed to terminate Triana and shift $33 million of its funding to Life and Microgravity Sciences. The Senate bill does not terminate the program. NASA head Dan Goldin has said he would recommend that President Clinton veto any authorization bill that eliminates Triana.

Space Science: The Senate committee would authorize, for FY 2000, an amount equal to the President’s request, and authorize annual increases of approximately 3 percent for the next two years. The House committee’s bill would authorize more for each year than the Senate’s, even after removing funding for the HPCC and IT programs. The House bill authorizes specific funding levels for the Near Earth Object Survey, the Hubble Space Telescope development, Space Solar Power technology, and the Research program. FY 2000 Request for Space Science: $2,196.6 million. Senate authorization: $2,196.6 million for FY 2000; $2,262.5 million for FY 2001; $2,330.4 million for FY 2002. House authorization (removes HPCC, IT funding): $2,202.4 million for FY 2000; $2,315.2 million for FY 2001; $2,411.8 million for FY 2002.

Earth Science: The Senate committee would authorize an amount equal to the request for FY 2000, and annual increases of approximately 3 percent for fiscal years 2001 and 2002. The House committee’s authorization levels fall below the request, in part due to exclusion of HPCC funds. The House committee bill also contains language regarding purchase of commercial remote sensing data. FY 2000 Request for Earth Science: $1,459.1 million. Senate authorization: $1,459.1 million for FY 2000; $1,502.9 million for FY 2001; $1,548.0 million for FY 2002. House authorization (after removal of HPCC and Triana funds): $1,382.5 million for FY 2000; $1,413.3 million for FY 2001; $1,365.3 million for FY 2002.

Life and Microgravity Sciences and Applications: The Senate committee authorization level would equal the request for FY 2000, and increase by about 3 percent annually for FY 2001 and 2002. The House committee would authorize significantly more in each of the three years, and the amendment to terminate the Triana mission would transfer an additional $33 million in FY 2000. FY 2000 Request: $256.2 million. Senate authorization: $256.2 million for FY 2000; $263.9 million for FY 2001; $271.8 million for FY 2002. House authorization (including funds to be shifted from Triana): $333.6 million for FY 2000; $335.2 million for FY 2001; $344.0 million for FY 2002.

International Space Station: The Senate committee would cap ISS funding at $21.9 billion through assembly, although the bill contains language allowing the caps to increase for inflation or addition of new technologies to improve safety or save costs in the long term. The House committee would authorize the full request for FY 2000; authorization levels in subsequent years would equal the Senate committee’s. FY 2000 Request: $2,482.7 million. Senate authorization: $2,282.7 million for FY 2000; $2,328.0 million for FY 2001; $2,091.0 million for FY 2002. House authorization: $2,482.7 million for FY 2000; $2,328.0 million for FY 2001; $2,091.0 million for FY 2002.

Additional amendments to the House Science Committee bill call for a National Academy of Sciences review of NASA’s Origins program, and a study of the status of the ISS’s life and microgravity research enterprise by the National Research Council and the National Academy of Public Administration. An amendment to terminate the space station, offered by new committee member Rep. Mark Sanford (R-SC), was withdrawn.

The House has tentatively scheduled floor debate on H.R. 1654 for May 19. The Senate has not scheduled floor action on S. 342 yet.