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HOUSE AEROSPACE CAUCUS MEETS June 7, 2001-WASHINGTON, D.C. The House Aerospace Caucus met yesterday to encourage the administration to adopt policies that will maintain the United States’ preeminence in aeronautics and astronautics. Co-chairs Dave Weldon (R-FL) and Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) said that the caucus was being organized as a response to foreign challenges to the U.S. for its leadership in the global aerospace market. "We’ve got the technological and intellectual base," Kucinich said, "Our generation was challenged to reach for the stars and we have to keep doing it….so that we can confirm for future generations that we kept the faith." Kucinich said funding for aerospace research and development at NASA had dropped by 60 percent in the last five years. Rep. Weldon said, "America used to be the world’s undisputed leader in aerospace, but this can no longer be stated so clearly." He added that the nation’s federal investment in aerospace R&D was at the lowest level in a decade. This was in contrast to other countries around the world, "who see the value of investing in aerospace." John W. Douglass, President and CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association, John Meenan, Senior Vice President of the Air Transport Association and Carol Hulgus, representing the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, spoke to the caucus about aerospace research and development, air transportation infrastructure, and the aerospace industrial base. John Douglass told the group that during the Carter administration, about 15 percent of the total amount spent by the government on R&D was devoted to aerospace. "Today, only five or six percent of that total is spent on aerospace. Can we sustain this industry on that level of R&D?" He also noted that the decline in funding for aerospace R&D correlated to the drop in young engineers and scientists entering aerospace studies. "Only six out of every 100 engineering students enters aerospace today," Douglass said, adding, "We cannot maintain our lead with so little investment." -AIA- Contact: Matt Grimison, AIA Brendan Curry, (202) 225-3671 Lori Ruk, (202) 225-5871 P.A. Rel. 2001-17 06.07.01 |
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