House budget boosts NASA, aeronautics research
By Kevin Kelley
Westshore
Published Jan. 19, 2005

The House of Representatives passed an appropriations bill last Thursday which would restore NASA's aeronautics funding to last year's levels. That's good news for NASA's Glenn Research Center and efforts to save over 700 jobs there, Rep. Dennis Kucinich said Monday.

In February Glenn was told the center would lose 700 jobs by 2006 under a NASA restructuring plan which emphasized space exploration over aeronautical research. However, during a visit to Glenn last month, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said the job losses at the center might not be as great as first feared.

During a meeting at his Lakewood office, Kucinich said lobbying efforts by Ohio's congressional delegation had begun to pay off.

"We're in a little bit better position," Kucinich said. "Every single goal we set at the congressional level — the House of Representatives — we've been able to meet."

Last week, the House approved the Science, State, Justice and Commerce (SSJC) appropriations bill, which earmarked $16.5 billion for the space agency. That's $275 million above the previous fiscal year and $15 million above what the Bush administration requested.

The Senate must still approve its own version of the bill.

"We're hopeful that the House version is going to prevail and that the Senate will have the identical version that the House did with respect to NASA," Kucinich said Monday. "If that happens, it puts us in a position to protect our center here at NASA Glenn."

Kucinich warned that while NASA's budget has been protected in the House bill, NASA administrators ultimately determine where and how the funds will be allocated.

But the appropriations bill and a report the SSJC Committee submitted with its budget were favorable to aeronautics and Glenn, Kucinich said. The bill restores aeronautical funding to last year's level of $906 million and also calls on the Bush administration to develop a national aeronautics policy.

In addition, the report directs NASA to not go beyond offering buyouts to its workers until the entire agency has developed a comprehensive restructuring plan.

"It's clearly Congressional intention to put the brakes on any reduction in force until there is a plan for the agency," Kucinich told West Life.

That's good news to Dennis Pehotsky of Cleveland, a senior purchaser at Glenn, who noted the center has been making plans for involuntary reduction in the workforce.

"There's a lot of panic and worry out at NASA Glenn," he told Kucinich.

The news of the house budget was a step in the right direction, Pehotsky told West Life. "That's the best news we've heard in months."