Lawmakers Cautious of Bush Plan
By Richard Powelson
Knoxville News-Sentinel
January 15, 2004

WASHINGTON - Tennessee members of Congress of both parties, while praising the boldness of President Bush's goals for space, cautioned the program would be expensive and said they would have to study how it compared to ongoing national priorities.

U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, a Chattanooga Republican, said he remains excited about Bush's proposal last year to develop hydrogen-fueled passenger vehicles and a national infrastructure for refueling them, which would greatly reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil.

That energy goal - rather than sending humans to Mars - should get maximum federal attention so it can be reached in 10 years rather than 15 or 20 years, he said.

"The greatest legacy that this president can leave in a second term is to accelerate our energy security," Wamp said. "I don't know of a bigger issue for national security than energy security."

Also, U.S. Rep. Lincoln Davis, a Pall Mall Democrat, called Bush's idea "large and bold" for the future of manned space flight. However, he said, "We are sitting on record (budget) deficits, and it would be hard to support ... without more concrete details."

Bush said he wants to devote about one-seventh of NASA's total budget over the next five years - about $11 billion from existing NASA programs and $1 billion in extra funds from Congress - to the new era of space flight.

His speech came nearly a year after the Feb. 1, 2003, explosion of the Columbia shuttle that killed the seven astronauts aboard. An investigation has postponed more flights.

U.S. Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., the Senate's majority leader, believes it is important for the president to set new leadership goals for space, but Congress must be "mindful of budget constraints," Frist aide Nick Smith said.

The state's other senator, Republican Lamar Alexander, will study Bush's plan before commenting, aide Alexia Poe said. As Congress discusses Bush's proposal, she said, Alexander will examine whether any of the space research and development work can be done by experts at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Tennessee's senior member in Congress, Rep. Bart Gordon, a Murfreesboro Democrat, is the top Democrat on the Science Committee, which oversees NASA programs. Gordon supports manned research on the moon and more detailed plans for space flight.

But he said Congress would have to make sure that extra spending on space programs does not harm federal programs aiding children, veterans and other national priorities.

"The president is going to have to make the case for why his proposals should be supported in the face of ... a half-trillion-dollar deficit" this year, Gordon said.

But "I think that the president has kicked off a long, overdue discussion on the future of NASA," he said.