Spurring Private Aerospace Competitiveness and Entrepreneurship Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. BRIDENSTINE. Mr. Speaker, I am fully convinced of the potential economic growth and innovation the commercial space industry represents. We already rely on commercial space for so much, and in the coming years, we will see this industry continuing to expand worldwide Internet coverage, advanced communication architectures, remote sensing and weather architectures, affordable access to space for science and commerce, permanent habitats in space, utilization of space resources, and the list goes on.

We must make sure that we as members of Congress do not do anything that could stifle this world-changing industry. That is why the U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act is crucial. The most important aspect of this legislation is the extension of the so-called learning period or moratorium on regulations for commercial human spaceflight. We need a learning period so we can eventually create a regulatory environment based on real data, not just speculation.

The bill also extends launch indemnification to keep American space companies competitive against international companies, clarifies that a launch license and experimental permit can be issued for the same design, and enables private companies to explore and mine celestial resources by incorporating the Space Resource Exploration and Utilization Act of 2015 introduced by my friends Bill Posey and Derek Kilmer here in this body. These provisions will go a long way toward encouraging a continued growth of the commercial space industry.

I would also like to address a few provisions of this bill that I worked to include myself, and I am pleased that we were able to keep them as the Senate worked to keep them in the final bill.

Section 116 of the bill will require a GAO report to capture the role of space support vehicles in the commercial space industry, regulatory and statutory barriers to the services these vehicles offer, and recommendations for updates that will address these barriers. People will need to be trained to fly, and vehicle designs will not remain static, which is why this provision is so important. This section will help us address situations that will become more prevalent as the commercial space industry continues to expand and diversify.

Additionally, title II of this bill incorporates H.R. 2261, the Commercial Remote Sensing Act, bipartisan legislation I introduced with my friend from Colorado, Ed Perlmutter. This title sets metrics to give Congress a full picture of the workload facing the Department of Commerce when licensing remote-sensing activities and what issues are preventing them from meeting statutory deadlines. Title II also recognizes the importance of seeking input from the Advisory Committee for Commercial Remote Sensing, which is largely made up of industry representatives. This legislation will be crucial as industry expands beyond traditional remote-sensing satellites and activities and as Congress looks to update the statutes governing these activities for the first time since the 1990s.

Mr. Speaker, in conclusion, I would like to thank the majority leader, Mr. McCarthy, the sponsor of this legislation, and the Science, Space, and Technology Committee chairman, Mr. Smith, for their continued leadership on commercial space issues.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2262 is critically important to the future of American leadership, and I urge my colleagues to pass the bill.

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