FACT SHEET: Sen. Cruz Delivers Space, NASA Wins for Texas
HOUSTON, Texas – U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce Committee, today participated in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Artemis II Crew Unveiling at Ellington Field JRB.
Sen. Cruz fights to make sure the United States leads the world in space exploration, and Texas leads the United States in exploring space:
- As the Ranking Member of the Senate’s Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, Sen. Cruz is entrusted by his Republicans colleagues to lead on issues related to space and science in the Senate.
- As the former chairman of the Commerce subcommittee handling space issues, he was a leader on numerous NASA reauthorization bills, giving the men and women of NASA have the resources they need to ensure the U.S. remains the global leader in space.
- He also successfully led the fight to commit the U.S. to the International Space Station through 2030, a proposal that became law in 2022.
- He is working with Senate colleagues on the bipartisan, bicameral American Space Commerce Act, to bolster U.S. leadership in the space industry, and enhance public-private partnerships with American companies.
- His bipartisan legislation to protect the Apollo landing site was signed into law.
- He authored legislation to rename the street in front of NASA as “Hidden Figures Way” to honor the unsung service of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson, who were featured in the movie Hidden Figures, and all women who contributed to the United States space program.
- In 2017, President Trump signed the Cruz-Nelson NASA Transition Authorization Act, which reaffirms NASA’s core mission and ensures the Johnson Space Center remains the crown jewel of NASA’s human spaceflight missions.
- His U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act was also passed into law, building public-private partnerships to send Americans to space using American-made rockets launched from American soil.
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