Bill Posey: Obama Needs to Spend Less on Climate Change, More on Manned Space Flights

Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Bill Posey spoke before the House Budget Committee on Wednesday, demanding that NASA make manned space flight its top priority.

I would ask that, as you proceed in developing a budget resolution, you include sufficient funding and language directing NASA to make human space flight its highest priority, said Posey, who represents parts of the Space Coast. Our nation is critically near the tipping point of ceding our leadership in space exploration for our future generations, as many of you already know. Direction from NASA administration has been seriously lacking with respect to their goals. By failing to set priorities within NASAs budget, the administration has left NASA with no priorities. As a result, human space flight and exploration are suffering and the U.S. will be ceding its leadership in space to China and Russia.

Posey took aim at the space exploration policies backed by President Barack Obama.

The president abandoned the Constellation program in his budget, calling for it to be cancelled with no solid alternative or plan for the future. By so doing, he set our human space flight program dangerously adrift with vague milestones for the worlds premiere space exploration organization, insisted Posey. Last year, Congress and the administration agreed on an Authorization Bill that focused on developing goals after the space shuttles retirement. This included plans for a new heavy-lift capacity while giving limited support to commercial operations. Unfortunately, the presidents proposed budget is a substantial departure from the Authorization Bill that he signed into law in October -- cutting $2 billion from the heavy-lift program while increasing taxpayer subsidies for the low-Earth orbit commercial space companies.

The presidents budget has misplaced priorities -- gutting vital heavy-lift capability while dealing significantly lighter cuts to unrelated projects like studying climate change, continued Posey. In fiscal year 2010, 16 -- 16 -- federal agencies and departments were funded at over $8 billion to address climate change. There are no, zero, zilch, nada, no other agencies funded to pursue human space flight. Human space flight is a matter of national security. Space is the worlds military high ground, our Golan Heights if you will. By ceding our leadership to other nations such as China, Russia and India, we would be literally giving them the ultimate military high ground.