[FPSPACE] Bush & Gore space platforms

[DSFPortree at aol.com]

Alas, I haven't found the 2000 space policy paper from candidate Bush, but I 
did find this interesting Space.com piece that covers both Gore & Bush. Also 
includes some interesting linked stories.

David

http://www.space.com/news/spaceagencies/gorebush_spaceplatform_000720.html

Gore and Bush Space Platforms Emerge
By Alex Canizares
Special to SPACE.com
posted: 04:30 pm ET
20 July 2000

    
WASHINGTON, July 20 (States News Service) – Space exploration may be the 
final frontier of the 2000 presidential contest: Mars missions, space stations and 
NASA have been relatively untouched by either candidate or the talking heads 
on television talk shows.

Until now.

Advisors to Al Gore and George W. Bush, at a Capitol Hill roundtable held by 
Women in Aerospace, spelled out the presumed nominees’ vision for space and 
aeronautics in what was billed as the first public discussion of space policy 
under the next administration.

The aides -- Bob Walker, a former Pennsylvania congressman and now a 
consultant to Bush and Gore advisor Steve Palmer -- said their candidates would 
support a strong space agenda, including planning for human exploration of Mars. 

However, Walker said voters can expect a "new direction" under a Bush 
presidency.

Walker said although the Texas governor had not yet signed off on a space 
policy agenda, there are several ideas in the works. He said Bush would spur 
commercial investment in space while developing a "strategic plan" to tie the 
space program to military and civilian needs.

Walker said Bush would look for ways to generate commercial growth in space 
transportation to put humans in space and establish a "permanent presence on 
the moon and on Mars." One proposal under consideration is handing over the 
International Space Station (ISS) to a non-governmental organization, and 
developing property rights for private entities in space.

Other ideas Bush may back include creating a National Aerospace Council, 
which was dissolved in 1997, and ramping up NASA’s budget, Walker said.

Walker criticized the Clinton administration’s support for NASA and its 
budget. "At best they have ignored space and at worst they have used it as a 
political tool," he said.

Gore – who has taken heat for the administration’s offer to give Russia a 
key role in building the space station – supports completing the ISS as a "test 
bed" for missions to Mars and elsewhere, said Palmer. The vice president also 
backs a global monitoring system to chart weather patterns and other phenomena 
from satellites.

Palmer said Gore would also back NASA’s Mars program, whose future is 
uncertain, after NASA lost two probes at the Red Planet last year. "The question of 
human exploration of Mars is not if, but when," Palmer said of a Gore 
administration.

Citing Gore’s experience on space issues as a Tennessee senator, Palmer said 
Gore would make "wise investments" in the aerospace industry, supporting 
"pushing the envelope" in science, technology and space exploration. "He knows the 
aerospace industry is a national treasure."

"He’s a friend, an ally and a leader in this community," Palmer said. "After 
his election, his door will be open to all of you."

Gore also supports reducing the cost of reusable space launches for 
commercial ventures; upgrading the shuttle; increasing ties between NASA and the 
Pentagon; enhancing educational programs about space for children; bringing women 
into the space program and reforming export control laws that bind companies 
from selling products abroad.

Changing the export controls, which have been criticized for being 
excessively restrictive, is a "win-win," Palmer said, helping U.S. allies' security, 
along with giving a boost to domestic rocketmakers and other companies.

Palmer said NASA’s $14 billion budget request, a jump over last year, starts 
a trend that will lead to "substantial increases" in funding over five years. 
He said Gore was the "first to step in to try to restore the president’s 
budget" when Congress slashed NASA funding last year.

Palmer warned that a multibillion-dollar tax cut – Bush has proposed $460 
billion in tax relief over five years – would jeopardize funds for discretionary 
spending on programs like NASA.

The Clinton administration’s plan to build a national missile-defense shield 
against "rogue" states – an idea supported to different degrees by Gore and 
Bush – has come under criticism after antimissile test failures.

Although the vice president has stood by the $60 billion defense system, 
Palmer said Gore would be "unwilling to move ahead unless the technology will 
work, it’s affordable and it will not disturb world peace."