The House Science Committee on Tuesday overrode Democratic
objections and approved a bill that sponsors said would give
greater flexibility to the National Aeronautics and Space Agency
to restructure and revitalize its aging workforce.
The measure (H.R.
1085) was approved 21 to 14 with only one Democrat voting in
favor, despite complaints by Democrats that it made no sense to
craft changes in the agency until a report is received from Adm.
Hal Gehman, chairman of the Columbia accident investigation board,
sometime in the next month or so, and they had had time to study
the bill closely.
But to no avail. "Within five years, a quarter of the NASA
workforce will be eligible to retire," said Committee Chairman
Sherwood Boehlert, R-N.Y.
"I don't think we can wait any longer in dealing with this
issue," he said, adding, "Admiral Gehman's report is not likely to
say anything specific about workforce reforms—that's hardly the
Gehman board's focus."
Democrats complained they had not received the text of the
proposed bill "till 7:15 last night," with senior Democrat Rep.
Ralph Hall of Texas declaring, "We should not be marking up the
bill at this time." But Boehlert went forward nevertheless.
A motion by Hall to block the ability of the chairman to call a
recess at any time—which would have made it difficult to keep
going without a rest period or timeout—was rejected, 16 to 21.
A so-called "manager's amendment" to the bill—a partial rewrite
of the measure offered by Boehlert—was then adopted on another
party-line vote, 22-to-16.
An amendment by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, to require
NASA to explain how it will ensure that its new workforce
authority would not compromise safety, was approved by voice
vote.
Adopted by voice vote was an amendment by Rep. Brad Miller,
D-N.C., to make certain that certain workforce authorities are not
available to political appointees.
But another Miller amendment to eliminate the demonstration
project authority in the bill was rejected on a 20-to-20 tie
vote.
An amendment by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., to clarify
language on scholarship eligibility was approved by voice
vote.
An amendment by Hall about issues raised by the Columbia
accident and NASA safety activities was ruled out of order as not
germane, and an appeal against this ruling was then sustained
22-19 vote, killing the amendment. Boehlert said this was an issue
where "we should wait for the Gehman report."
An amendment by Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Texas, to add a
section on workforce diversity was approved by voice vote.
An amendment by Rep. Nicholas V. Lampson, D-Texas, to set goals
for NASA's human space flight program was defeated 12-18.
An amendment by Miller to obtain an independent assessment of
NASA's existing workforce flexibilities was defeated 9-13.
An amendment by Jackson Lee on minority university reserarch
and education was rejected, 12-18.
