Davis / Period 1 Senator Hasani

S.SS._____
A BILL

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To ensure NASA has adequate funding in order to further American STEM research, STEM industries, and STEM
education/interest.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE
This act may be cited as the NASA Funding Act of 2016.
SECTION 2. FINDINGS
Congress hereby finds and declares that,
1) Increased NASA funding will lead to increased spending into US STEM industries.
2) Cuts to funding lower the public interest in spaceflight and the technologies surrounding it, hurting STEM interest.
3) Spending money on NASA is investing into future technology and positive growth for the American economy.
4) NASA puts $5B a year into US manufacturing.
5) NASA spends 80% of its budget on technological programs.
6) NASA Educational grants increase the nations interest in aeronautical research and development.
7) The STEM fields that NASA specializes in will push forward the economy.
8) One of NASAs main focuses is on higher level STEM education.
9) The increase in NASA size and scope will push private space companies to grow and compete with each other,
creating economic competition and spending in STEM fields.
10) Increasing NASAs budget will create and ensure jobs for Americans, as well as further interest in the STEM
fields.
11) NASA creates automatic systems, robotic systems, autonomous software and artificial intelligence that are used in
American industries.
SECTION 3. STATUTORY LANGUAGE
A) The NASA Funding Act of 2016 will use diverted funds from a portion of the U.S. Militarys $32 Billion spent on
research and development yearly and redistribute it to NASA, raising the funding to $40 Million. A portion of funds
that were originally allocated for the STEM fields of drone, rocket, missile, jet, and artificial intelligence research will
be detracted from the Military and given to NASA. Because of the overlap in NASA research and the prior mentioned
fields, the STEM fields that are being defunded in the Military will still grow and benefit from NASAs research.
NASA will be obligated to share their research with other U.S. departments in order to ensure that they are still
growing alongside NASA, albeit with a focus on the aeronautical fields.
B) The U.S. Government Accountability Office alongside Congress will oversee the distribution of funds to NASA
alongside the procurement of funds from the U.S. Department of Defense. The U.S. Government Accountability
Office will also oversee how the money is being spent in NASA to ensure it is being spent effectively, but it cannot
reallocate funds within NASA itself, using other U.S. Departments to oversee individual areas of spending. For
example, the U.S. Department of Education will oversee how NASA is spending its funding for educational grants.
NASA will however still remain fairly independent of outside department control, and will chose how to spend its
funding itself.
C) If NASA is seen to be spending its money recklessly, or if no technological achievement, advancement, or progress
is made, or if no major plans for space travel and research are made within five years, NASA funding will drop down
to where it previously was, with an exact figure being chosen by Congress. The funds will then be reallocated to
wherever it is deemed necessary, or back into U.S. Military research.