Technology group urges lawmakers to fully fund NASA

The Government Electronics and Information Technology Association has urged two key senators to support the full fiscal 2005 budget request for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

President Bush requested $16.2 billion for NASA, but the House Appropriations Committee approved only $15.1 billion, $228 million less than appropriated for fiscal 2004.

GEIA asserted in a letter to Sens. Christopher Bond, R-Mo., and Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., that the funding cuts would undermine NASA's development of future technologies. Bond is the chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that oversees NASA funding, and Mikulski is its ranking Democrat.

GEIA President Dan Heinemeier noted that "the many successes of the NASA space program have significantly helped the United States to expand its technological leadership, economic vitality and security."

The letter said that within the past decade, NASA has been forced to operate under extremely tight budget allowances.