spacetoday.net: Congress pledges to make changes at NASA after report

Posted: Wed, Aug 27, 2003, 10:07 AM ET (1407 GMT)
US Capitol

Members of Congress said Tuesday that they would work to enact major reforms at NASA in the wake of the final report of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board. The CAIB's report, issued Tuesday, blamed NASA organizational "culture" issues for the accident as much as the physical causes. Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS), chair of the Senate Commerce Committee subcommittee that oversees NASA, said that he would push for the formation of a presidential commission to review the future of NASA and space exploration. Others called for management reforms within NASA to address the specific issues raised in the CAIB report. Members were mixed, though, whether they should provide additional funding for NASA. Some, like Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), argued that NASA needed additional funding to carry out its missions, while Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), chair of the space subcommittee of the House Science Committee, argued that NASA has sufficient funding to carry out the shuttle program safely. The first Congressional hearing into the report, by the House Science Committee, is scheduled for September 4.