LettersJuly 09, 1998 The Honorable Tim Roemer
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Congressman Roemer:
The 300,000-member National Taxpayers Union (NTU) strongly supports your amendment
to the FY 1999 VA/HUD Appropriations Bill that would terminate funding
for the International Space Station.
As you know, for more than a decade opponents of the Space Station’s various
permutations have warned of the project’s fundamentally uncontrollable
costs. NASA’s original base cost for the undertaking in 1984 was
$8 billion for a Space Station that would be fully operational for 40
years. By 1995, the figure had inflated to more than $90 billion –
for a stripped-down version that bore little resemblance to the grand
design envisioned the decade before.
Today, overburdened taxpayers are bearing witness to the adage,
"history repeats itself."
The General Accounting Office now estimates the Station’s total costs
to be nearly $100 billion, with additional overruns likely if the construction
and launch schedules of key components from Russia slip even further.
In 1994, NTU warned Members of Congress that "Other attempts to
make the Space Station more fiscally palatable, such as Russia’s
deep participation in the program, could prove just as futile…
Given Russia’s unstable political and economic climate,
…this dependency could backfire if Russia becomes unable to
deliver on its promises." This prediction was not gifted insight on
NTU’s part; rather, it stemmed from taxpayers’ sad
experience with cost overruns and delays on hundreds of other federal
projects.
Four years later, the prediction is coming true.
What will Americans receive in return for this huge commitment of
tax dollars? An orbiting platform that will include just two of the
eight originally planned scientific missions. A Space Station that
the presidents of 10 scientific societies called "a project of little
scientific or technical merit that threatens valuable space-related
projects and drains the scientific vitality of nations." A project
that is at least one year, and as many as three years behind
schedule, all for an operating lifespan of 8.5 years – a far cry
from the 40 years predicted under the original plan or even the 10
years envisioned in the redesigned version.
In short, the International Space Station is too small to benefit the scientific
community and too large for taxpayers to afford. The American people may
have a fascination with outer space, but not at any price.
Station supporters argue that it is "too late" to cancel this project because
$20 billion has already been spent. Using this twisted logic, the federal
government’s National Helium Reserve would still be stockpiling the
gas in case of an outbreak of blimp warfare. In any event, Congress should
embrace your amendment as an opportunity to save taxpayers $80 billion
or more – an amount which could add dramatically to the paltry $60
billion in tax relief currently under consideration by budget conferees.
During the last redesign phase, the White House and Congress
reviewed several Space Station options, but failed to adopt the most
important option of cancel. With federal tax burdens at a
postwar high, and a national debt racing past $5.5 trillion, the
Space Station’s mission should be halted now. Accordingly, we
urge your colleagues to support your amendment to the FY 1999 VA/HUD
Appropriations Bill. Any roll call floor vote taken in the House on
your amendment to terminate the International Space Station will be
included in NTU’s annual Rating of Congress.
Sincerely,
Peter J. Sepp
Vice President for Communications
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