Floor Statement by Ranking Member Eddie Bernice Johnson On Senate Amendment to SPACE Act of 2015
Floor Statement by The Honorable Eddie Bernice Johnson
On Senate Amendment to H.R. 2262, SPACE Act of 2015
Mr. Speaker, the bill we are considering today is a missed opportunity to enact sensible policies. It is a bill that if enacted will do harm to American taxpayers and to the long-term interests of the commercial space industry itself.
It is a bill that displays the inconsistent and contradictory approach that this Congress has taken towards this industry. On the one hand, Congress and the industry have been saying that the commercial launch industry is so mature that we are ready to send our NASA astronauts to the International Space Station as passengers on commercial spacecraft. On the other hand, the bill before us today says that the industry is still so immature that the FAA shouldn’t be allowed to impose any safety regulations to protect passengers who fly on any of the commercial spacecraft until well into the next decade. This despite the fact that our country has more than a half century of experience in human space flight, and we understand very well what is needed to maintain passenger safety. This contradictory posture makes no sense to me. NASA will insist on the insight and oversight necessary to be convinced that the vehicles its astronauts fly on will be as safe as they can be. However, with this bill, ordinary citizens who fly on commercial spacecraft won’t have any similar protections.
And I must point out that I am not talking about an abstraction. In just the past 13 months, we have witnessed three different commercial launch providers experience catastrophic failures. One of those failures resulted in the death of a test pilot. Another caused millions of dollars of damage to the launch facility. With these major accidents as a backdrop, I think it is unconscionable that we are here today moving this bill in its current form.
The bill before us also goes against the interests of the American taxpayer. By extending the current licensing and indemnification regime without any updating of its provisions, it shifts more and more of the 3rd party liability financial risk in the event of an accident—and we know there will be accidents—from the companies to the taxpayers. Each year that the current outdated indemnification regime is extended, the financial exposure of the taxpayer grows and that of the companies is reduced. I can think of no other industry where we are willing to have the government—and ultimately, the American taxpayer—assume an increasing share of the financial risk as the industry matures.
Of course, some of my Majority colleagues will argue that we have to provide that preferential treatment to our domestic commercial space transportation industry because foreign governments are providing it to theirs. And yet I would note that many of those same Members rejected that same argument when it was applied to the renewal of the Ex-Im bank. I guess consistency isn’t always seen as a virtue in this body. Mr. Speaker, I will not belabor the point. I opposed this bill when an earlier version passed the House. Unfortunately, negotiations with the Senate did not result in any significant improvements. That is not to say there are no good provisions in the bill. There are. But they are outweighed by the provisions that in one way or another say that we as a Congress are concerned with protecting the interests of the commercial space transportation industry but not the safety of the Americans who will fly on their commercial spacecraft.
When the inevitable accident with significant loss of life occurs—whether it’s a year from now or five years from now—the American public will look back at what we are doing today and ask how we could be so short-sighted. I would urge my colleagues to take a step back from the path we are on so that we can take the time to craft legislation that will help this industry grow in a responsible manner while still protecting our citizens.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Next Article