spacetoday.net: House committee approves NASA budget, investigation funds

Posted: Tue, Jul 22, 2003, 6:27 PM ET (2227 GMT)
US Capitol

The appropriations committee of the US House of Representatives approved on Monday a $15.5 billion budget for NASA in fiscal year 2004 as well as supplemental funding for 2003 to cover the costs of the Columbia accident investigation. The full House Appropriations Committee approved the budget less than a week after the subcommittee that oversees NASA and other independent agencies approved the proposed budget, $201 million more than what NASA received in 2003 and $71 million more than what President bush originally requested. The full committee, like the subcommittee, deferred any action on the bulk of the NASA budget dealing with the space shuttle and space station programs, electing to wait until the Columbia Accident Investigation Board completes its final report, scheduled for release next month. Along those lines, the Appropriations Committee also approved $50 million in additional funds for the investigation as part of a $2 billion supplemental budget bill for 2003. Congress had already included an initial $50 million for the investigation when it finally approved the 2003 budget in February.