Sen. McCain Statement on Columbia Accident Investigation Report

Washington, DC – Senator John McCain, Chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, today released the following statement regarding the Columbia Accident Investigation report:

“Given the complexity and number of issues raised, the Committee will be conducting a thorough analysis of the entire report. The Committee intends to hold its first hearing on the report on September 16, 2003.”

“I thank Admiral Gehman and the other members of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) for their dedicated service to our country in delivering this comprehensive report. In many ways, the report should serve as a wakeup call for NASA to return to the fundamentals of designing, building, operating, maintaining, and monitoring highly complex technical systems. Congress’ task will be not only to ensure that the CAIB’s recommendations are implemented in both the short term before the space shuttle returns to flight and the long term before flaws in NASA’s culture are perpetuated, but also to define the goals of the human space flight program.”