THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Vice President ________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release August 23, 2018 REMARKS BY VICE PRESIDENT PENCE ON THE ADMINISTRATION'S SPACE POLICY PRIORITIES Johnson Space Center Houston, Texas 12:51 P.M. CDT THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you, Administrator Bridenstine. To the members of Congress who are here; Director Geyer; to all our distinguished guests, including the Chief of the Astronaut Office, Pat Forrester, and nine members of the Astronaut Corps who are with us today; to all the men and women of NASA who are here in this hall and watching around the country, men and women who push the boundaries of human knowledge for the benefit of all: It is my great honor to be here at the “home of human spaceflight,” the Johnson Space Center. (Applause.) So proud of you. It's great to be back. And before I begin, let me bring greetings from a great champion of American leadership at home and in the boundless expanse of space. I bring greetings from the 45th President of the United States, President Donald Trump. (Applause.) It really is an honor to be with you today, at such a time as this in the life of our space program and in the life of our nation. Thanks to President Trump’s vision and decisive action, with strong support from our partners in Congress, and thanks to the pioneering work and courage of the innovators and astronauts represented here, past, present, and future, and because of the enduring commitment of the Johnson Space Center and NASA, America is leading in space once again. (Applause.) It's true. And we're grateful to all of you. But let me begin tonight -- today as well -- by saying how grateful we are for our NASA Administrator, Jim Bridenstine. He served as a Lieutenant Commander in the United States Navy, he served in the Congress, and now he is leading NASA with distinction at the dawn of a renewed age of human space exploration, led by the United States of America. Jim, thank you for your leadership. (Applause.) Great job. And I also want to thank the still-kind-of-new Director here at Johnson Space Center, Mark Geyer, recipient of NASA’s Distinguished Service Medal. His career here has actually spanned more than three decades and I couldn't be more impressed with the job that Mark Geyer is doing or the fact that he's a graduate of Purdue University. (Applause.) Join me in thanking -- Mark, stand up. Stand up. Take a bow. (Laughs.) I also want to thank a few other people before we get going. I want to acknowledge your two senators, who are champions of this space program. I know they're not with us today -- they're working on Capitol Hill -- but join me in thanking Senator John Cornyn and Senator Ted Cruz. They fight for this space program every day. (Applause.) And I know it got mentioned before, but we actually served together when I was in the Congress. And I just want to give some special recognition to someone who I've known since the first day we met in 2001 has been a passionate champion of NASA and of the Johnson Space Center, and of American leadership in space: Congressman John Culberson. (Applause.) It's true. You got to know, Congressman Culberson is not just a congressman from Texas, he's the chairman of the subcommittee that oversees the budget for NASA. And because of President Trump's leadership and vision, and because of the strong support of Congressman Culberson and our bipartisan support in the Congress, President Trump signed the largest budget for NASA since the days of the Apollo Program. Thank you, John. (Applause.) Great. We really thank them all. So it's great to be back at the Johnson Space Center. Today, I got to look around a little bit and I was like a kid in a candy store. (Laughter.) I'm telling you what -- it was amazing talking to astronauts training at the Neutral Buoyancy Lab. I looked at some lunar samples. I was told that the samples we were looking at, still encased, haven't been opened since they were gathered nearly a half a century ago. And it was my privilege to wander around this place with a great American, a hero of Apollo 17, and a man that all America is proud of -- one of the last two men to walk on the moon -- Jack Schmitt. It is always an honor to be with you. (Applause.) Thank you for your leadership. We rode over in my car together, which is kind of cozy -- lots of stuff piled in there. And I was just imagining, maybe I was in the -- (laughter) -- me and Jack Schmitt in close quarters. (Laughs.) As close as I'll ever get, Jack. (Laughter.) Thank you. Thank you for your leadership and your courage, and your commitment -- a member of the User Advisory Group, advising the National Space Council to take NASA to even higher levels. Thank you again, Jack. With the strong support of all these leaders, I'm pleased to report to the whole team here at NASA, President Trump has brought renewed vision and renewed action to America’s space program. Last summer, as Jim mentioned, after it had lain dormant for nearly a quarter of a century, President Trump revived the National Space Council, and put us all to work. (Applause.) As we speak, the National Space Council -- bringing together all different agencies of government that bear on this program, and bringing together the best minds in and around American space leadership -- we're forming a cohesive and comprehensive strategy for America's space activities. It's my honor to serve as Chairman, and we've already forged new partnerships between the federal government, leaders in industry, and academia. We're enacting new space traffic management policies to protect our assets in that crowded realm. We're rolling back stifling red tape so we can tap the bottomless well of American innovation. We're also renewing our national commitment to discovery and to exploration, and to write the next great chapter of our nation’s journey into space. That's why, last December -- 45 years almost to the minute since Jack Schmitt and Gene Cernan landed on the moon -- President Donald Trump signed Space Policy Directive-1. It is now the official policy of the United States of America that we will return to the moon, put Americans on Mars, and once again explore the farthest depths of outer space. (Applause.) And the President's leadership and all of your great work is the cause of what brings me here today, for this is the mission; this is future of the Johnson Space Center. For more than 50 years, this storied center has been at the forefront of America’s journey to the stars. This is the “home of the Astronaut Corps.” And, here, from the Mission Control Center, you have guided every American-crewed space expedition since 1965. The names and the voyages that you directed from this place adorn the mantle of American greatness. In Project Gemini, you steered some of our earliest astronauts high above what they called the “Blue Marble,” into low Earth orbit. In the Apollo Program, you navigated the first members of the human family to the moon and back. At this very hour, you walk with our astronauts through their duties as they walk 200 miles above us, orbiting the Earth every 90 minutes, on the International Space Station. The Johnson Space Center is a national treasure, and all the men and women who work here are a national asset. (Applause.) I have to tell you, I'm just speaking as a small-town guy from southern Indiana, but I know the American people admire -- they admire the work done here -- past, present -- and they look for even greater things in the future here at Johnson Space Center. And let me to say to all of you, and all of those that might be looking on: The most important work and the best days for the Johnson Space Center are yet to come. (Applause.) Count on it. Our administration has laid out a new vision for space. President Trump's vision to push our nation farther, get there faster than ever before, is being implemented even as we speak. And unlike prior administrations, we have a vision with the budget to match. As I mentioned, thanks to Congressman Culberson’s leadership and the strong bipartisan support in the Congress, President Trump already signed into law historic funding for NASA. And we’ve also fully funded NASA’s most important endeavors from deep-space human exploration: America’s rocket, the Space Launch System, and the Orion space capsule. These projects, as you all well know, are emblematic of American leadership in the cosmos. The Space Launch System will be the largest and most powerful rocket ever built. It will generate a staggering 11.9 million pounds of thrust and reach speeds of nearly 7 miles per second. And all this force, all this energy, will lift American astronauts into space aboard the Orion capsule. (Applause.) I just saw one of those Orion capsules floating out in that big tank. (Laughter.) I know we're getting ready to put that thing up in the air. And it will be up before you know it. The next Americans who set foot on the moon will start their journey by stepping through Orion’s hatch.