Arizona House District 8: Gabrielle Giffords
Although still a freshman, Gabrielle Giffords has already
made a name for herself as a champion of the space program.
She has a strong personal connection to space exploration in
the person of her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, who
recently commanded the Space Shuttle Discovery on
its mission to the International Space Station. Like
Lampson, she has worked hard to secure additional funding
for NASA in order to accelerate the development of Orion and
Ares. As a member of the Subcommittee on Space and
Aeronautics, she is positioned to play an increasingly
important role in determining space policy.
Giffords' opponent, Tim Bee, has not demonstrated any
particular interest in space exploration as an issue. His
campaign did not respond to the Committee's requests for
information.
Texas House District 22: Nick Lampson
In his years as a member of Congress, Nick Lampson has
emerged as one of the strongest supporters of space
exploration in Washington. In particular, he has been a
leader of the bi-partisan coalition that is seeking to
obtain an additional $1 billion for NASA's budget in order
to accelerate the development of the Orion spacecraft and
the Ares rocket, so as to shorten the gap between the last
flight of the Shuttle and the first flight of Orion from
five years to three. He has close ties to the space advocacy
movement, regularly appearing at conferences and other
events. It is very likely that he will be named as Chairman
of the House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics during
the next session of Congress.
Lampson's opponent, Pete Olson, is also a strong supporter
of space exploration. But he lacks Lampson's long experience
and track record on the issue. Furthermore, because he will
likely be named Chair of the Subcommittee on Space and
Aeronautics, Lampson will be in a much stronger position to
positively influence space policy than Olson would be.
Check page to this page regularly to see the latest
endorsements by the Committee for the Advocacy of Space
Exploration
