"A House panel has recommended legislation that would cut $1.4 billion from the fiscal year 2000 NASA budget. Reductions of this magnitude would have devastating effects on the space agency and would result in serious impacts on Stennis Space Center in south Mississippi.

"Nationally, at the Agency level, we could see the closure of two or more NASA centers and a crippling effect on both the Space Shuttle and space station programs. Currently, only 8/10ths of one cent of every federal dollar goes into funding the space program, while 18 cents of every dollar goes toward interest payments on the national debt. If you shut down NASA programs because of budget problems, you have not really solved the problem. In essence, the country would have turned its back on the future - which is space.

"Locally, Stennis Space Center would see major cutbacks in the areas of shuttle support, and the possible elimination of Earth Sciences and Commercial Remote Sensing programs. All Advanced Propulsion Development work would stop, and these proposed cuts would mean the loss of at least several hundred jobs."