National And Commercial Space Programs

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Cohen) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Smith) each will control 20 minutes.

The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Tennessee.

GENERAL LEAVE

Mr. COHEN. I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Tennessee?

There was no objection.

Mr. COHEN. I yield myself such time as I may consume.

H.R. 3237 codifies into positive law as title 51, United States Code, the laws related to national and commercial space programs. It was jointly introduced by Judiciary Committee Chairman JOHN CONYERS from the great State of Michigan and Ranking Member LAMAR SMITH from the great State of Texas, where many of these space programs are located. It was prepared by the Office of Law Revision Counsel as part of its functions under 2 U.S.C. 285(b), which it performs in coordination with our committee.

This bill is not intended to make any substantive changes in the law. As is typical with the codification process, a number of nonsubstantive revisions are made, including the reorganization of sections into a more coherent overall structure, but these changes are not intended to have any substantive effect. The bill has been subject to extensive public review in the previous two Congresses, including by relevant congressional committees, agencies, practitioners, academic experts and whoever else is left. The current bill is substantially identical to the bill Chairman Conyers and Ranking Member Smith introduced 2 years ago, with a few additional technical clarifications suggested by interested parties.

I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of Texas. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I support H.R. 3237, a bill proposed by the Office of Law Revision Counsel to enact title 51 of the U.S. Code, as positive law. The Judiciary Committee has jurisdiction over law revision bills, and this particular bill creates a new title to address national and commercial space programs.

Many laws have been enacted over the years dealing with national and commercial space programs. However, there is no distinct title in the U.S. Code to consolidate these laws. This is because the U.S. Code was established in 1926, long before space programs were ever contemplated. This bill would put all of these laws into one title within the Code. H.R. 3237 and similar law revision bills are important because they ensure that the U.S. Code is up to date and accurate, without making substantive changes to the law. I am happy to support this legislation today.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, at this point I ask everybody to vote unanimously in support of H.R. 3237 and pass it, and I yield back the balance of my time.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Cohen) that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 3237.

The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.

A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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