WASHINGTON (US Commercial Committee PR) – U.S. Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Chairman John Thune (R-S.D.), Ranking Member Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), and Space, Science, and Competitiveness Subcommittee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and Space, Science, and Competitiveness Subcommittee Ranking Member Gary Peters (D-Mich.) issued the following statements on the passage of H.R. 2262, the U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act, a bicameral, bipartisan bill that encourages competitiveness, reflects the needs of a modern-day U.S. commercial space industry, and guarantees operation of the International Space Station until at least 2024. The bill builds on key elements in S. 1297 that the Commerce Committee approved earlier this year and passed the Senate on August 4, 2015.
TAG
“Kevin McCarthy”
Rep. Kevin McCarthy
Update No. 2, 10/09/16: Ironies of ironies. Conservative Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), who is also a big commercial space supporter, told McCarthy to withdraw on Thursday. “Kevin, you need to not be in this race,” he said. Rohrabacher was incensed over McCarthy’s comments that indicated the Republican-led Congressional investigation into the Benghazi attack was a politically motivated effort to derail Hillary Clinton’s presidential run.
Update, 10/08/16: It has emerged that a conservative activist threatened to expose an alleged affair between McCarthy and Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-N.C.). The threat appears real; I have no idea whether there is anything to the accusation.
Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), a supporter of commercial space, abruptly dropped out of the race to replace outgoing House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Thursday. A House Republican Conference had been set to selected a candidate to be voted on by the full House on Oct. 29.
McCarthy, who as Majority Leader is second-in-command to Boehner, had been facing opposition from conservative members of the House. The Washington Post reported:
McCarthy’s hopes of uniting Republicans took a blow Wednesday when a close-knit group of roughly 40 hard-line conservatives, the House Freedom Caucus, said it would back a low-profile Florida lawmaker, Rep. Daniel Webster, instead.
Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), a prominent supporter of commercial space, is a leading candidate to replace John Boehner (R-OH) as the new speaker of the House of Representatives. On Friday. Boehner shocked Washington by announcing he would be resigning his position as speaker and his House seat at the end of October. He was facing increasing challenges to his authority from conservatives Republicans who believe he should be more confrontational […]
Rep. Kevin McCarthy
WASHINGTON, D.C. (House Science Commnittee Leadeship) – House Science, Space, and Technology Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) today joined House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in praising passage of H.R. 2262, the Spurring Private Aerospace Competitiveness and Entrepreneurship Act of 2015 or SPACE Act. Almost 50 Democrats joined Republicans to pass the bill with broad bipartisan support, 284-133.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy: “America has always led because it’s in our nature to lead. We crossed over the mountains of the Appalachians and into the Great Plains. We climbed the Rockies to the golden coast of California and beyond, creating a nation in this land that has far surpassed all others in truth, hope, and liberty. We are a beacon of freedom and human dignity to every person that longs for the right to choose their own future. And we are a force for good unlike anything this world has ever known.
“And yet, in space, we are losing our ability to lead. We once stood up to the challenge of the Soviet’s Sputnik and made it to the moon, but today, our astronauts use Russian rockets and other nations are working to put people on Mars and beyond.
“But we must go beyond. We must face the great unknown with that American spirit of adventure and hope. To paraphrase President Kennedy, we must lead mankind into space not because it is easy, but because it is hard and because that goal brings out the very best of our nation. …
The commercial space industry had a great day on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, with the Republican-controlled House Science Committee giving it most of what it wanted while swatting away proposed changes from the minority Democrats.
Among the goodies approved by the committee: a decade-long extension of the moratorium on regulating commercial human spaceflight; a nine-year extension of industry-government cost sharing for damages caused by launch accidents; and an act that would give companies property rights to materials they mine from asteroids.
Rep. Kevin McCarthy
The House Science Committee is set to mark up legislation on Wednesday introduced by Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) that would extend the commercial spaceflight learning period for another eight years while requiring a series of progress reports on safety from the Federal Aviation Administration.
The proposed extension to the end of 2023 is three years longer than one in a measure introduced in the Senate. The FAA’s Office of Commercial Spaceflight (FAA AST) wants the moratorium on regulating the industry to expire as scheduled at the end of September.
McCarthy’s Spurring Private Aerospace Competitiveness and Entrepreneurship Act of 2015 (or SPACE Act of 2015) also contains several other key provisions, including the extension of launch liability indemnification cost sharing provisions and a rule change that would allow companies to hold experimental permits and launch licenses simultaneously.
SpaceShipTwo on final approach during a glide flight on Jan. 17, 2014. (Credit: Douglas Messier)
By Douglas Messier
Managing Editor
Virgin Galactic’s application for a launch license for SpaceShipTwo has been on hold since January while legislators in Washington attempt to fix a quirk in the Federal Aviation Administration’s regulations governing licenses and experimental permits, the company said.
The specific issue involves a provision in the law that makes an experimental permit invalid once a launch license is issued for a vehicle, according to Will Pomerantz, Virgin Galactic’s vice president for special projects. Flight testing of SpaceShipTwo and its WhiteKnightTwo mother ship is continuing at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California.
Rep. Kevin McCarthy
Jeff Foust has an interesting analysis about efforts by Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to prevent the re-authorization of the Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank of the United States, which has helped to finance the exports of a number of commercial space companies.
Although McCarthy has introduced legislation to streamline commercial spaceflight regulations for commercial spaceflight companies that have yet to fly any passengers, he views government-backed financing of exports that has helped profitable space companies as unnecessary.
In an interview on “Fox News Sunday,” McCarthy said he would vote against reauthorization of Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank of the United States, which supports financing of exports of products and services created by U.S. companies.
Rep. Kevin McCarthy
Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), a supporter of commercial space legislation, has moved up in the leadership of House of Representatives. Meanwhile, another commercial space supporter, California State Sen. Steve Knight (R-Palmdale), will be competing to represent California in the Congressional district that adjoins McCarthy’s district.
McCarthy’s elevation to the position of House Majority Leader followed the defeat of Eric Cantor (R-VA), who lost a primary challenge earlier this month. The loss meant Cantor would not be able to stand for re-election as the Republican Party’s candidate in Virginia’s 7th District.
The Majority Leader is the second-ranked position in the House, with the responsibility of scheduling the legislative calendar and managing House committees.
McCarthy — who represents the 23rd Congressional district that includes Mojave, Rosamond, California City and Edwards Air Force Base — had previously served as House Majority Whip. In that position, he kept track of legislation and rounded up legislators for important votes.
Sen. Martin Heinrich (R-NM) has introduced a measure that would allow experimental permits issued for commercial reusable launch vehicles to remain active after a launch license is issued for the vehicles. Currently, the experimental permits are no longer valid after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issues a launch or re-entry license. This arrangement makes it more difficult for companies to flight test vehicles and make changes in them. The proposed […]