Press Releases
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) released a statement after voting to protect the integrity of National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) procurement process and prevent the waste of taxpayer dollars.
“The success of the Artemis missions is critical to America’s economic and national security,” Rubio said. “If NASA needs a second human landing system to ensure that success, then I will work with them through the appropriations process to make it happen. But we cannot allow these investments to become earmarks for companies that lost a fair bidding process. That will undermine Americans’ faith in the process and slowly erode the quality that comes from true competition.”
The Motion to Instruct Conferees offered by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) would have instructed conferees to strike section 2614(c) of the Senate version of H.R. 4521, which directs NASA to select a second company, within 60 days, to develop an additional human landing system for its Artemis mission and authorizes $10 billion through 2025. The provision has been widely characterized as an earmark for Blue Origin, which lost its bid in April 2021 to build NASA’s new lunar lander as part of the Artemis mission.
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“The success of the Artemis missions is critical to America’s economic and national security,” Rubio said. “If NASA needs a second human landing system to ensure that success, then I will work with them through the appropriations process to make it happen. But we cannot allow these investments to become earmarks for companies that lost a fair bidding process. That will undermine Americans’ faith in the process and slowly erode the quality that comes from true competition.”
The Motion to Instruct Conferees offered by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) would have instructed conferees to strike section 2614(c) of the Senate version of H.R. 4521, which directs NASA to select a second company, within 60 days, to develop an additional human landing system for its Artemis mission and authorizes $10 billion through 2025. The provision has been widely characterized as an earmark for Blue Origin, which lost its bid in April 2021 to build NASA’s new lunar lander as part of the Artemis mission.
Related:
- December 2021: Rubio, Colleagues Introduce Legislation to Extend NASA’s Enhanced Use Leasing Authority
- May 2021: Rubio, Cornyn, Scott Reintroduce Bill to Modernize NASA Contracting Requirements
- March 2021: Rubio: Nelson Great Choice to Lead NASA
- February 2021: Rubio: NASA’s Success Is Critical to Our Nation’s Future
- February 2021: Biden Administration Confirms Support for Artemis Program
- February 2021: Rubio Urges Biden to Fully Support NASA’s Artemis Program
