Posted: Sat, Mar 13, 2004, 8:25 AM ET (1325 GMT)
The Senate approved an amendment to a 2005 budget bill that would restore $600 million to NASA that was cut last week by a committee. The Senate approved by a voice vote an amendment to the 2005 budget resolution proposed by the six senators from Alabama, Florida, and Texas that would transfer $600 million from a general government operations fund to NASA. The money would cover a cut made by the Senate Budget Committee when it approved its version of the President's fiscal year 2005 budget proposal last week. The overall $2.36-trillion federal budget was approved by the full Senate Friday on a 51-45 vote. The budget approval is only the first step in the overall budgetary process, as appropriations committees have only just begun to meet to hammer out the budget details for NASA and other federal agencies, a process that will likely continue for more than six months.
