Trade-off da – gdi 2011 1 Earth Science D/A 2

Defense Shell

U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Huntsville, said here Wednesday that Congress will "probably" cut defense spending next year, possibly including R&D programs based in Huntsville, but, if he gets his way, it will boost NASA's manned spaceflight program. "I hate sounding so melodramatic," Brooks told The Times editorial board, "but I do want to emphasize the seriousness of (the deficit) .... We're looking at truly catastrophic effects on our country." Brooks took office in January and joined a new Republican House majority determined to cut federal spending. On Wednesday, he returned repeatedly to what he called the urgent need spend less while still funding programs he supports, such as NASA. Those programs benefit taxpayers, he says, as opposed to wealth-transferring entitlements that should be cut. Tax increases on "job producers" are off the table to bridge the budget gap, Brooks said, but capping unemployment benefits is not. The House will cut spending this year to 2008 levels, Brooks predicted, but that will be "across the board, not per agency." "I hope to increase (NASA) spending for manned spaceflight," Brooks said. The extra money would come from other agencies or other NASA line items such as studies of global warming, he said. Brooks, who sits on the House NASA oversight committee, said there will be hearings soon on global warming. Brooks also said money for NASA could come from the National Science Foundation budget. "We might have to shift money from there," he said. "I think national defense is probably going to lose some ground," Brooks said, although he will try for "level funding." Asked how cuts might affect Huntsville, Brooks said, "I don't know." There are at least three independent estimates already before Congress, he said, one of which would mean "$4- to $7 billion in R&D cuts and that's what we specialize in (at Redstone Arsenal)." Brooks emphasized those estimates are by outside experts with no vote on the outcome. Democrats "loudly proclaim there is a lot of waste" in the defense budget, Brooks said, adding, "Heck, it's a government program. I'm sure there's waste. There always is with any kind of government program. But it is extraordinarily difficult to cut only the waste. How do you separate the two?"