Then the 2,000-page, unamendable, trillion-dollar omnibus spending bill was released in December. Congressional allies of ULA, including Republican Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama and Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, sneaked a provision—behind closed doors and with no debate—into the bill that will effectively allow ULA to buy an unlimited number of Russian rocket engines.After shaming his peers, Senator McCain goes on to state "This must not stand."
So we will be funneling hundreds of millions of dollars to Moscow while Russia occupies Crimea and destabilizes Ukraine; menaces the Baltic States and some of America’s other NATO allies in Europe; violates the 1987 Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty; sends weapons to Iran; and bombs U.S.-backed forces in Syria to prop up the murderous regime of Bashar Assad. All this for the benefit of ULA’s rocket plant in Alabama and one if its parent companies, Boeing, based in Illinois.
I wish Senator McCain success in moving the rocket business back home. Sadly, the large space companies are more capitalistic than American-centered, and will be happy to fund any foreign government to help their bottom line. The Congress should know better and understand the importance of a home-grown rocket industry. We should look at all of the space and defense needs through this prism to ensure our national security comes first.
