Houston’s delegation optimistic about Constellation

On Thursday morning eight members of the House from the greater Houston area held a press conference with Houston mayor Annise Parker (at the podium above, flanked by the House members), who was visiting Washington in part to lobby to project jobs at the Johnson Space Center that might be jeopardized by NASA’s plans to cancel Constellation. While Parker described her concerns about the economic impact to the city and region should those plans go through, the Republican and Democratic members who gathered with her expressed considerable optimism that Congress would move to preserve Constellation in the coming months.
“All of us, from Democrat to Republican, no matter geographically where we’re located in the Gulf Coast area, support the effort to save the Johnson Space Center and Constellation,” said Rep. Gene Green (D), who served as the master of ceremonies for the 40-minute press conference on Capitol Hill. “I happen to be a person that is optimistic,” said Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D). “I see the light at the end of the tunnel.” And Kevin Brady (R): “It is an uphill fight, but I become more optimistic each day, because together I believe we can get this done.”
The arguments ...