When King Harry of England
fought the French at Agincourt, he was vastly outnumbered by an army that was
largely made up of mercenary forces.
In some regards this is
similar to the recent 2007 Space Budget Blitz. A small band of space advocates
went to Capitol Hill, where as is usually the case, we were vastly outnumbered
by high priced lobbyists and political power-players. Although we didn't have
as decisive a victory as King Harry, the 2007 Space Budget Blitz was an
unqualified success.
Over two days, the National
Space Society (NSS) spoke to more than sixty members of Congress, including new
members, appropriators, and authorizers, as well as Congressional leadership.
This included face to face meetings with Representative Ralph Hall (R-TX) and
Representative Nick Lampson (D-TX) as well as speaking to staffers from the
offices of Senator Hillary Clinton, Senator Barack Obama, Senator Joe
Lieberman, and many others.
The NASA Budget
The timing of this event
couldn't have been any better. The 2008 budget was released the previous week
and the Senate was debating
the Joint Resolution that cut $500 million from NASA's original 2007 budget. Despite the
fact that the Joint Resolution passed the Senate, we were pleased to find that
there is still a lot of support for NASA in the United States Congress and that
many members will be pushing hard to make sure that NASA gets at least the 3.1
percent increase (over the 2007 budgeted amount) that is included in the recently released 2008
budget.
According to Blitz
Co-Chairman, Rick Zucker: "It was extremely gratifying to hear of the great
interest and respect held by many members of Congress for NASA and for space
exploration and development in general. At the same time, however, our meetings
provided a unique opportunity to obtain crucial information as to the demands
that are currently being placed on Congress regarding the allocation of scarce
resources among competing interests. The Blitz showed the importance of
maintaining the lines of communication between the space community and Congress
to ensure that adequate funding is appropriated for the Vision for Space
Exploration and other space-related programs."
Fear of the "Gap"
One of the concerns that we
continually heard during these meetings was a growing anxiety about
the four-year gap between the retirement of the space suttle fleet and the
scheduled operation of the replacement
vehicle. It was apparent that a number of Representatives are getting more
uncomfortable with the fact that the United States will be unable to launch humans into orbit for such a long
period. This fear was compounded by China's
recent launch of an anti-satellite missile. It will be interesting to see
if the apparent Iranian
launch will even further magnify this Congressional angst over the "gap."
Talking Points
The talking points that we
were promoting included language that discussed the following topics:
- Support amendments to the
Joint Resolution that would call for the restoration of the $500 million
removed from the original 2007 budget.
- Fully fund NASA to at
least the administration's 2008 request of a 3.1 percent increase over the
original 2007 budgeted amount.
- Support the Vision for Space
Exploration. In the 2005 NASA Authorization Bill, Congress overwhelmingly
supported the goals (Moon, Mars, and Beyond) of the Vision for Space Exploration
and the spending level that would require.
- Fund research into space
applications for environmentally friendly solutions to Earth's energy
needs.
- Formally include NASA in
the Competitiveness Initiative.
A New Congress
The recent changeover in
Congress presented many challenges. Although both parties boast numerous
supporters of space exploration, we entered these meetings with little or no
idea of where most of the new members stood on space exploration issues. As we
were setting up the meetings, many of these offices hadn't even finished hiring
staffers and weren't sure who was going to deal with science and space issues. Despite
these complications, our meetings went very well.
According to NSS Executive
Director, George Whitesides, "The staffers are always impressed by the passion
and knowledge of the NSS members visiting Capitol Hill. It was critical that
the new Congress hear from citizens right at the start that space must be a
priority for their coming term."
This activity was just one
of many that NSS and other organizations plan to conduct over the upcoming
year. Only through constant contact with our elected officials can the space
advocacy community help guarantee that the Moon and Mars do not get dropped as
Congressional priorities. In order to truly have the impact that we desire we
need more people to come out and join us for future trips to Capitol Hill.
Don't be shy! Not only can you influence the United States government, but you
can have a LOT of fun doing it. To quote a line from Shakespeare's HENRY V, if
we succeed in these efforts, we "will be remembered."
Chris Carberry is a Board
Member of the National Space Society and Chairman of the 2007 Budget Blitz.
NOTE: The views of this
article are the author's and do not reflect the policies of the National Space
Society.
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