Alabama lawmakers join NASA bill ceremony
WASHINGTON — Surrounded by a bipartisan group of lawmakers, including two from Alabama, President Donald Trump signed a $19.5 billion bill Tuesday to fund NASA programs and reaffirm what he called a "national commitment" to "human space exploration."
Trump also hailed the nation's "heroic" and "amazing" astronauts, including those "who have lost their lives" over the decades.
"America's space program has been a blessing to our people and to the entire world," Trump said.
The NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2017 authorizes funding for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. Last week, the Trump team proposed a budget that would reduce NASA to $19.1 billion for the year after that.
“It was really encouraging to see the focus back on NASA and its mission,'' said Sen. Luther Strange, R-Ala., after attending his first White House bill signing ceremony. "It’s so important to Alabama and to the country so I was really pleased to be at that bill signing. It was a great start to rebuilding NASA to its appropriate place."
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Strange, the junior senator from Alabama, serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Last month, Strange replaced former Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions, who is now the U.S. attorney general.
Among the items in the bill passed by Congress: money for continued support of launches by commercial companies and deep space exploration, as well as the International Space Station and initial planning for the Mars mission.
During the ceremony, Vice President Mike Pence said Trump has asked him to chair the National Space Council.
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Alabama lawmakers said funding the space program is crucial to the state's economy.
"So many rockets are built in Huntsville, it’s really critical to our state,'' Strange said. "We pioneered space travel and space exploration so it's fantastic to see the president make such a priority of it."
Rep. Martha Roby, R-Ala., who also attended the White House ceremony, noted the "key role'' NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center plays in the federal space program.
“This bill will ensure important NASA exploration efforts are authorized and properly funded for in 2017, including the Mission to Mars,'' she said in a statement.
Roby is on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies. Republican Rep. Robert Aderholt of Alabama also serves on the subcommittee.
The Oval Office crowd also included two former Republican primary rivals of Trump, senators from states heavily invested in NASA: Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas.
They and other members of Congress praised the plan. Also included in the ceremony was Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., who traveled into space in 1986 aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia.
"We have the commercial companies going to and from the International Space Station and we have NASA going out and exploring the heavens," Nelson said during the signing ceremony. "And we're going to Mars."
Cruz noted that this is "the first time in seven years we've had a NASA authorization bill," and he jokingly played off Trump's comments about the challenge of being an astronaut.
"You could send Congress to space," the Texas senator said.
"We could," Trump replied. "What a great idea that could be."
Follow Deborah Barfield Berry on Twitter @dberrygannett.