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Washington DC 20515 October 11, 2000 Administrator NASA Headquarters Washington, DC 20546 Dear Mr. Goldin On Friday, September 29, 2000, representatives from the Department of State briefed staff from the Committees on Science and International Relations of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate regarding a proposed munitions export license relating to the International Space Station. During the course of this briefing, our staffs were informed that NASA intends to purchase $21 million worth of goods and services from the Russian Aviation and Space Agency (RASA) as soon as the Administration submits the President's first report to Congress under the Iran Nonproliferation Act of 2000 (Public Law 106-178). (The first report was, of course, required by law to be submitted to Congress no later than June 12th of this year, and the second such report was required to be submitted no later than September 14th.) Presumably, this $21 million purchase represents the remainder of the $35 million worth of goods and services that you announced your intention to purchase from RASA in your letters to the Chairman of the Science Committee dated February 11 and February 14, 2000. Significantly, these letters were sent more than one month prior to the enactment of the Iran Nonproliferation Act. As you know, the Iran Nonproliferation Act prohibits NASA from purchasing goods and services from RASA for the International Space Station unless certain conditions are first met. The State Department representatives indicated at the September 29th briefing that those conditions are unlikely to be met in this case, but that NASA intends to use the authority of section 6(f) of the Act to make the purchases, the "Exception for Crew Safety." Under section 6(f), NASA may make an otherwise prohibited purchase from RASA only if the imminent loss of life or grievous injury to individuals aboard the International Space Station." We were stunned to learn that NASA today anticipates that the President will be able to submit such a notification to Congress in the near future. Not only is there no imminent loss of life pending aboard the International Space Station today, there is not even a crew aboard the Space Station. If NASA anticipates that such a notification will be supported by facts as soon as a crew is placed aboard the Space Station, then NASA must today believe two things: (1) that any crew aboard the Space Station in current circumstances faces "imminent loss of life" or "grievous injury" and (2) that the purchase of the goods and services subject to the notification is "necessary to prevent" that loss of life or grievous injury. In other words, NASA must believe that, without that purchase, the crew likely will die or be grievously injured, and that this risk of death or injury to the crew will be substantially eliminated by goods and services to be purchased from RASA. We would be shocked if either of these things were true. In short, as presented to us by the State Department, NASA's planned purchase of $21 million in goods and services from RASA would violate the letter and spirit of a law passed unanimously by both houses of Congress and signed by the President. To clarify NASA's responsibilities under the Iran Nonproliferation Act and to ensure that we have not misunderstood NASA's position, or respective staffs have repeatedly requested briefings from the agency regarding its plans to purchase goods and services from RASA. After many delays, we have been assured that the briefing will take place this week, and we hope and expect that will be the case. Given the Congressional schedule, a briefing this late in the process may not give Congress an adequate opportunity to evaluate NASA's position. Therefore, in addition to the staff briefing, and the agency's testimony at a hearing before the Committee on International Relations later this week, we request your written response to the following questions.
With warmest regards,
H. James Sensenbrenner, Jr.
Benjamin A. Gilman
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