Executive Calendar

Floor Speech

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Mr. MARKEY. Mr. President, I am here to join Ranking Member Nelson and my colleagues to voice my opposition to James Bridenstine, who has been nominated to be the next Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

NASA is an agency that has been at the center of our Nation's modern history and impacts the daily lives of millions of Americans. The world watched in awe as Neil Armstrong took that first step onto the surface of the Moon in July of 1969, wearing a NASA patch on his spacesuit. Today, we marvel at photos of Pluto's surface, captured by NASA's New Horizons mission in July of 2015. From the closest to the farthest reaches of our own solar system, NASA is always there.

NASA is at a critical point in its history, and that is because the United States is poised to unleash the next great feat of human innovation as we look to unlock the true possibilities of space. To accomplish these goals, we need a solid foundation, and that starts and ends with the science conducted at NASA every single day. NASA's mission involves not just revealing faraway worlds but investigating the realities of our own. In order to truly do that, we need continued scientific research of the highest caliber.

The scientists working at NASA today are among the very best in the world. NASA, in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, produces and analyzes the most robust data we have on our planet's changing climate. The OCO-3 program monitors Earth's atmospheric carbon levels. The CLARREO Pathfinder mission measures Earth's atmospheric heat. The Deep Space Climate Observatory satellite provides our scientists comprehensive data sets that are crucial to understanding the vast changes that are underway on our own planet this very second.

On NASA's website right now, there is a web page entitled ``Scientific Consensus: Earth's Climate is Warming.'' On this web page, based on NASA's vast collection of data, it continues, ``The impacts of climate change are already occurring. Sea levels are rising, and snow and ice cover is decreasing. . . . The warming climate likely will cause more floods, droughts and heat waves. The heat waves may get hotter, and hurricanes may get stronger.'' Those are NASA's words, and we know them to be true because science has proved it.

NASA's science is the gold standard. Its scientific work is crucial to our understanding the threat that climate change poses to our Nation, our economy, and the health of all Americans and people around the world. But Houston, we have a problem. NASA's science, NASA's missions, and American leadership will all be in serious jeopardy if James Bridenstine is confirmed to be the next Administrator of NASA. Under his leadership, NASA would come to stand for ``not accepting scientific advice.''

Congressman Bridenstine's record is one of questioning climate change and undermining science. He has repeatedly questioned the scientific consensus and the threats of climate change. Before changing his website, it stated: ``Global warming theories should not drive national energy policy without clearer evidence.'' Global warming isn't theory; it is based on science. Unfortunately, Mr. Bridenstine's words do not reflect the accepted science behind climate change, including the very science that NASA has been collecting and needs to continue to collect.

Under President Trump, we know that fear is rampant across the Federal Government among scientists. It is no surprise that the environmental and scientific communities across the country are asking that we vote down Congressman Bridenstine's nomination based on his voting record and his clear denial of accepted science. If Mr. Bridenstine is confirmed as the Administrator of NASA, he will bring that fear to its scientists at a time when we need them more than ever.

It is not only his views on science that make him unsuitable to lead NASA. NASA's workforce is comprised of more than 18,000 workers who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer. NASA has officially stated that ``diversity and inclusion are integral to mission success.'' In a 2013 speech on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, Congressman Bridenstine declared: ``Marriage exists to bring a man and a woman together as husband and wife, to be a father and mother to children.'' He has stated repeatedly that he would support a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman.

Congressman Bridenstine's personal views and voting record against people who identify as LGBTQ should immediately disqualify him from consideration for leading this diverse agency. NASA is an agency of inspiration, an agency that showcases the very best of American ideals: scientific integrity, innovation, diversity, fearlessness, resolve, and hope. Mr. Bridenstine puts these ideals at risk and is not qualified to lead this agency.

I urge my colleagues to oppose his nomination. I urge a ``no'' vote.

I yield back.

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