Space Access Political Action Alert 10/6/99 ____________________________________________________________________ HUD/VA Conference Finally Happens Thursday 10/7 1:30 PM EDT Extra Money May Be Available for NASA Future-X - Fax or Call The Conferees By Thursday Noon EDT! Summary: "Please add $50 million to NASA Future-X for low-cost reusable rocket flight demonstrators, as described in the House NASA Authorization." If you are from one of the below listed Senators' states or Representative's districts, call or fax with this message by Thursday noon east coast time. (If you're not from one of those places, contact the Senate and House Subcommittee chairmen, Bond and Walsh.) Get their DC office voice or fax numbers (and if necessary check for who your Representative is) from www.vote-smart.org. Background: The deadline for finishing Appropriations bills, September 30th (the end of the federal 1999 fiscal year) has been pushed back three weeks by a "continuing resolution" that funds the government until October 21st. The deadlocks that delayed various funding bills are now being resolved - the Defense Appropriations Conference reconvened today after a dispute over F-22 production funding was resolved, and we are cautiously optimistic about getting money for USAF "Space Maneuver Vehicle", a reusable upper stage project that we support, when the dust settles. Meanwhile, the HUD/VA & Independent Agencies (NASA) Appropriations conference will finally meet tomorrow afternoon at 1:30 pm EDT. The House has already instructed its conferees to support the Senate's full funding of NASA's Science, Aeronautics, and Technology account (where Future-X lives) - there is no danger of overall cuts here. The Senate supports more money for advanced space launch work, but it currently would do so by removing money from space science, something we'd prefer not to see happen - the sort of space science programs most likely to be axed tend to be those most likely to contract outside NASA for launches, and also those that exemplify the "better faster cheaper" approach. We'd vastly prefer that NASA's Science Aeronautics & Technology account get $50 million added, to get a series of Future-X low-cost reusable-rocket flight operations demonstrator projects underway this year. Tomorrow morning is likely our last chance to influence Congress on this matter this year. Absent, of course, a Presidential veto of the bill, something we see as increasingly unlikely. Please, go for it, one more time. Senate HUD/VA Appropriators Christopher S. Bond, Chairman, Missouri Ted Stevens, Alaska Conrad Burns, Montana Richard C. Shelby, Alabama Larry Craig, Idaho Kay Bailey Hutchison, Texas Jon Kyl, Arizona Barbara Mikulski, Ranking Member, Maryland Patrick Leahy, Vermont Frank Lautenberg, New Jersey Tom Harkin, Iowa Robert Byrd, West Virginia House of Representatives HUD/VA Appropriators James T. Walsh, N.Y., Chairman C.W.Bill Young, Fla. Alan B. Mollohan, W.V. Tom DeLay, Texas Marcy Kaptur, Ohio David L. Hobson, Ohio Carrie P. Meek, Fla. Joe Knollenberg, Mich. David E. Price, N.C. Rodney P. Frelinghuysen, N.J. Robert E. (Bud) Cramer, Jr., Ala. Roger F. Wicker, Miss. Anne Northup, Ky. John E. Sununu, N.H How To Do It Get the appropriate Senator's or Representative's DC office phone or fax number, via www.vote-smart.org (have a piece of mail with your nine-digit zip handy) or by calling your local library's information desk. If you're faxing, compose a polite concise one-page letter to them, saying who you are and where you're from, telling them what you'd like them to do, then briefly explaining why - just hit one or two high points, don't overexplain. Thank them for their attention, sign the letter, and send it. If phoning, dial their DC office number, ask for whoever handles NASA appropriations questions, then when connected to that staffer (or more likely their voice mail) tell them briefly who you are ("I'm Joe Smith from Pocatello Idaho") and what you want them to do ("I'm calling to ask Senator X/Congressman Y to add $50 million to NASA Future-X for reusable rocket flight demonstrators") If they sound totally baffled, tell them the program is described in the House NASA Authorization - then (unless they have questions) thank them for their time and ring off. *end*
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