28 members of Congress, including Alabama 5th District U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, have formed a new bipartisan, congressional caucus.
The House National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Caucus is dedicated to bringing attention to space agency’s economic and national security importance and serve as a forum to educate policymakers on current NASA initiatives.
“It is an honor to serve as the Congressman representing the Tennessee Valley, home to Alabama’s Marshall Space Flight Center – one of NASA’s largest field installations with nearly 6,000 civil service and contract employees,” said Brooks, who serves as Vice-Chair of the Space Subcommittee on the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee. “Without the contributions of the dedicated engineers, scientists, and other talented professionals we would be unable to inspire the next generation with the dream of continued space exploration.”
The announcement of the caucus, led by California-Republican Rep. Steve Knight and Ohio-Democrat Rep. Marcy Kaptur, was made Wednesday on the anniversary of the launch of Pioneer I in 1958, NASA’s first spacecraft.
“I am excited to report that there is a renewed commitment to space exploration on Capitol Hill and you can feel the excitement. The recently launched NASA Caucus will help bring to the forefront NASA’s most important endeavors, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to further America’s global leadership in space,” added Brooks.
Brooks joins 27 colleagues and founding members of the caucus: Steve Knight (CA), Marcy Kaptur (OH), Brian Babin (TX), André Carson (IN), Kathy Castor (FL), Jim Costa (CA), Barbara Comstock (VA), Charlie Crist (FL), Debbie Dingell (MI), Anna Eshoo (CA), Al Hastings (FL), Bill Johnson (OH), David Joyce (OH), Ro Khanna (CA), Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO), Zoe Lofgren (CA), Ralph Norman (SC), Pete Olson (TX), Steven Palazzo (MS), Ed Perlmutter (CO), Bill Posey (FL), Jamie Raskin (MD), Dana Rohrabacher (CA), Linda T. Sánchez (CA), Scott Taylor (VA), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL), Randy Weber (TX).
An official launch event to celebrate the establishment of the caucus will take place in December.
