News Releases

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) – member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee – questioned National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Administrator Jim Bridenstine during a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on the federal government’s strategy for maintaining leadership in space and ensuring space industry competitiveness on March 13, 2019.

Sen. Moran and Administrator Bridenstine discussed the importance of STEM education, as well as Administrator Bridenstine’s recent visit to Kansas. Last December, Sen. Moran hosted NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and NASA Astronaut Don Pettit for STEM events in Wichita and Hutchinson.

Highlights:

Sen. Moran (1:07): “I wanted you to know that, just a few weeks ago . . . a student who participated in our STEM event in Wichita, in which you spoke and an astronaut spoke, and we rekindled his boyhood dream of going to Mars and he now has decided that this is the career that he wants to pursue. And I’d just point out that those efforts at NASA, your efforts in particular in Wichita . . . you and an astronaut have such a capability of changing a person’s life.”

Sen. Moran (1:42): “I’m of the view that we change the world one person at a time, and I want you to know that we want to make certain that NASA remains that agency that inspires another generation, and highlighting just one student who was affected by what you had to say, and I wanted you to be aware of that.”

Administrator Bridenstine (2:22): “This is ultimately how we create that next generation of scientists, technicians, engineers, and mathematicians, and I’m proud to do that. I would also say that that trip to Wichita was transformative for me.”

Administrator Bridenstine (3:05): “I will tell you, I enjoyed the trip very much, I learned a lot, and it has applicability that goes beyond aviation and into space. . . When we think about NASA – the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the first ‘A’ in NASA is Aeronautics. It is directly applicable to what we do in space.”

Click here to watch Sen. Moran’s full remarks.
 

# # #