Virginia Senator Warner to Oppose Senate Draft Bill on NASA

The Space Frontier Foundation is urging commercial space backers to speak out in favor of an amendment by Virginia Sen. Mark Warner:

Contrary to the White House’s request and recommendations of the Augustine Commission, Senator Bill Nelson’s proposed NASA Authorization Bill slashes commercial space by $2.1 billion (up to 66%). Virginia’s Senator [Mark] Warner is ready to ride to the rescue with an amendment restoring full funding to the program, but he needs YOUR help to gain support from other Senators.

Warner’s amendment will go for vote in less than 36 hours! This is a simple up/down vote. Does the US Senate want to preserve a few thousand politically important, government funded jobs for a few more years, or would it rather stimulate the creation of millions of new private sector jobs that will last into the 22nd century? Friends of commercial space, now is the time to call your Senator to say, “Please support the Warner Amendment for commercial crew that will create over 10,000 jobs, and reduce our dependence on Russian rockets!”

This amendment, proposed by Senator Warner of Virginia, would close the U.S. human spaceflight gap by fully reversing cuts to commercial crew development funding and by removing arbitrary restrictions preventing a commercial crew competition from beginning in 2011. The amendment would boost commercial crew funding to the level recommended by the President, adding $2.1 billion over three years, a nearly threefold increase. This will reduce our reliance on Russia for human spaceflight capability and ensure U.S. access to the International Space Station.

Read the full appeal and learn what you can do to help.