Ted Cruz to oversee NASA: What does his record tell us?
The changing of the Senate guard continues.
On Jan. 8, the Republican Press Office the names of the chairmen who will be serving under the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee for the 114th Congress. And now chairing the Senate Subcommittee on Space, Science and Competitiveness is none other than Sen. Ted Cruz (R) of Texas.
A hardline conservative and , Senator Cruz has always been outspoken, especially when it comes to issues such as immigration and gun control.
But it鈥檚 his statements on budget cuts, technology, and climate change that have that聽his appointment might mean less funding for science, engineering and technology research and to agencies such as National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)聽and the National Science Foundation 鈥� all of which as subcommittee chairman.
The senator has 聽(the聽Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center is based in his state)聽expressing interest in the private sector鈥檚 potential role in research and development (Lockheed Martin in Texas is building the Orion spacecraft) and occasionally taking to social media to celebrate the agency鈥檚 achievements. He also said last year, 鈥淚t鈥檚 critical that the United States ensure its continued leadership in space.鈥�
At the same time, Cruz has , saying that cuts in government spending required changes to NASA鈥檚 budget.
Cruz鈥檚 stance on climate change has been more definite: 鈥淭he last 15 years, there has been no recorded warming. Contrary to all the theories that 鈥� that they are expounding, there should have been warming over the last 15 years. It hasn't happened,鈥� .
鈥淸Y]ou always have to be worried about something that is considered a so-called scientific theory that fits every scenario. Climate change, as they have defined it, can never be disproved, because whether it gets hotter or whether it gets colder, whatever happens, they'll say, well, it's changing, so it proves our theory," Cruz continued.
NASA has just launched that will look into how the earth鈥檚 atmosphere affects climate change. The agency also has a section on its website .
Cruz has also spoken out against net neutrality, the idea that all consumers have equal access to the Internet and 鈥渃an make their own choices about what applications and services to use and are free to decide what lawful content they want to access, create, or share with others,鈥� according to the .
The senator's appointment is expected to be confirmed by the end of the month.
