Bera was speaking at the NASA budget hearing
Congressman Ami Bera on Thursday spoke at the NASA budget hearing and said that investment in NASA is essential to better understand our universe and help drive innovation in our economy.
The hearing, An Overview of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Budget for Fiscal Year 2018, was to review the Trump administration’s budget plan for NASA. It was held by the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology’s Subcommittee on Space.
The ranking member on the Space Subcommittee expressed his concern about the 3 percent reduction in the 2018 budget proposal for NASA, from the FY 2017 enacted appropriation.
“This budget request would eliminate NASA’s Office of Education and funding for cornerstone programs such as Space Grant, the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), and the Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP),” Bera said in his opening statement.
“We need the next generation to be energized and prepared for the exciting goals we are asking NASA to achieve, including sending humans to Mars. Unfortunately, a 9% cut to NASA’s exploration programs – including the key systems that will enable the United States to return to deep space- does not help get us closer to Mars of build on the inspiration and curiosity of the next generation,” he said.
Bera pointed that the budget proposed for Fiscal Year 2018 will set NASA back and the space agency’s purchasing power would actually shrink by a total of about $4.5 billion over the five-year budget horizon.
“NASA remains a critical national asset. For nearly 60 years, it has been a source of technological and scientific innovation, and inspiration to generations of Americans, and a driver for economic growth. Let us do what is necessary to keep NASA’s future bright,” he added.
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