HM 481

1	House Memorial
2	A memorial to the Congress of the United States, urging
3	Congress to provide sufficient funding to the National
4	Aeronautics and Space Administration and the John F.
5	Kennedy Space Center to mitigate the severe economic
6	impact that will result in Florida when the nation's human
7	space flight program ceases operations and before the new
8	human space flight program begins.
9
10	WHEREAS, the United States' human space flight program is
11	scheduled to cease operations after September 30, 2010, and
12	WHEREAS, the cessation of our nation's human space flight
13	program will result in the loss of employment of thousands of
14	highly trained space flight employees in Florida, and
15	WHEREAS, Florida is home to thousands of suppliers and
16	service providers who will lose employment or vital income upon
17	cessation of the United States' human space flight program, and
18	WHEREAS, the next planned United States' human space flight
19	program is not scheduled to be in operation for at least 5
20	years, and
21	WHEREAS, a gap of 5 years in human space flight programs
22	will result in our nation's loss of highly specialized space-
23	faring skills due to the dispersion of the workforce, and
24	WHEREAS, both the United States and Florida have already
25	experienced economic devastation resulting from the abrupt
26	cessation of the Apollo Program and have learned from that
27	period of history, and
28	WHEREAS, the United States' human space flight program has
29	greatly contributed to our nation's national defense and many of
30	today's technological advances, and
31	WHEREAS, other countries, some of which are hostile to the
32	United States, will have the opportunity during our nation's
33	human space flight program's gap to surpass the United States in
34	technological advances and the dominance of space exploration,
35	NOW, THEREFORE,
36
37	Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
38
39	That the Congress of the United States is urged to provide
40	sufficient funding to the National Aeronautics and Space
41	Administration and the John F. Kennedy Space Center to mitigate
42	the devastating economic impact to Florida's workforce and
43	economy due to a gap of 5 years in human space flight programs.
44	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
45	dispatched to the President of the United States, to the
46	President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the
47	United States House of Representatives, and to each member of
48	the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.