In particular, Congressman Rohrabacher fought to increase research on new space transportation technologies, which could slash the high costs of launching people and payloads into space and revolutionize America's whole space program. He quickly became the leading champion of so-called "Cheap Access to Space" and reusable launch vehicles, including the DC-X Single Stage Rocket Technology demonstrator, built in Huntington Beach by then-McDonnell Douglas.
During Mr. Rohrabacher’s 1997-2005 chairmanship, the subcommittee produced several important pieces of legislation: the Commercial Space Act of 1998 (P.L. 105-303), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-391), and the Commercial Space Transportation Competitiveness Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-405). These measures are designed to help American businesses and NASA lead our nation into space -- discovering new knowledge, creating prosperity and ensuring our security.
But the Congressman's work on the Science Committee hasn't been limited just to space. He's also fought for pure research and common sense on several down-to-Earth issues. After the watershed election of 1994, Congressman Rohrabacher became Chairman of the Science Committee's Subcommittee on Energy and Environment (E&E).
Under his leadership, the E&E subcommittee increased funding authority for solar and oceans research; fought the use of government research and development funds for "marketing" commercial products; and successfully reduced wasteful bureaucracy and corporate welfare. In fact, Rohrabacher and the subcommittee reduced wasteful spending by 13 percent, for a total savings of more than $1 billion in annual savings, on the FY1996 budget authorizations for the Department of Energy, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), while protecting essential energy research.
Rohrabacher currently also serves as a member of the Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee, which will conduct hearings on all matters related to science, including space, energy, environment, research and technology.
Link: House Committee on Science and Technology