Administrator Urges Full Funding of Vision for Space Exploration

Administrator Sean O’Keefe today acknowledged the tough financial decisions that have to be made by Congress in passing the fiscal year 2005 budget, but asked the chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Appropriations to restore more than $1 billion of recommended cuts made Tuesday by the appropriations
subcommittee.

“Over the course of the past year, Congress has called for the
President to articulate a vision and strategy for space
exploration. The President’s budget proposes the means to
support the Vision for Space Exploration while the
Subcommittee’s position does not provide the resources,” said
the Administrator in a letter to Committee Chairman C. W. Bill
Young, Republican congressman from Florida’s 10th District. “We
are encouraged that the Subcommittee endorsed the Vision for
Space Exploration in their markup, indicating they are hopeful
that it may be possible to augment NASA funding as the
appropriations process moves forward.”

Tuesday, members of the subcommittee recommended to the full
Appropriations Committee a $15.1 billion budget for NASA,
cutting about $1.1 billion from the President’s 2005 fiscal
year submission. The NASA budget is part of a $93 billion
spending bill that also provides funding for the Department of
Veterans Affairs, the Department of Housing and Urban
Development, the National Science Foundation and the
Environmental Protection Agency.

“The Subcommittee-recommended funding level for NASA would
adversely affect its ongoing science and technology programs,
as well as the NASA workforce, and will delay plans for FY 2005
critical technology design efforts needed to better define the
architecture in support of the Vision for Space Exploration,”
the Administrator continued in his letter. “It is very
important that these design efforts go forward in FY 2005 to
enable NASA to address the long-lead, high-risk requirements
that will form the basis for informed decisions by Congress on
next steps in the Exploration plan.”

The Administrator thanked Chairman Young for the Appropriation
Committee’s support of the Vision for Space Exploration.
Administrator O’Keefe said he would continue to seek Committee
and Congressional support for full funding of the President’s
2005 budget as the appropriations process continues.

The entire letter may be found on the Internet at:
http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/62799main_072204_young_letter.pdf