Committee Approves NASA Termination Liability Bill
(Washington, DC) – The Committee on Science, Space, and Technology marked up H.R. 3625, “To provide for termination liability costs for certain National Aeronautics and Space Administration projects, and for other purposes.” A Manager’s amendment and the bill were approved by a bipartisan voice vote and reported favorably out of Committee.
Ranking Member of the Space Subcommittee Donna F. Edwards (D-MD) said in her opening statement, “I believe that Committee Members on both sides of the aisle share a common desire, namely that NASA retain its global leadership in space.”
She continued, “I think that today’s bill and the Manager’s amendment will help to ensure that NASA and its contractors can apply all of the funds that are designated and appropriated for the program which the Administration and the Congress have agreed are NASA’s highest priority projects - the International Space Station, Space Launch System, Orion, and the James Webb Space Telescope. The Manager’s amendment will include the James Webb Space Telescope as a covered program since it’s a NASA high priority program as well, and it makes clarifying revisions to the bill to avoid potential unintended consequences. There is nothing in the bill that changes the circumstance for other NASA programs. What the amendment does is make clear is that should a covered program be terminated for the convenience of the Federal Government, then the Federal Government is responsible for payment of all allowable and reasonable negotiated termination liability costs. The taxpayers deserve our efforts, especially in an environment of constrained budgets to find ways to facilitate agency progress on these high priority programs.”
Ranking Member Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) said, “This bill makes necessary changes to the way in which NASA accounts for termination costs in their flagship programs. When Congress funds spacecraft development, we want the funding to go to spacecraft development.”
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