] Historically, the funding requested for NASA from
] multiple Administrations, and provided to NASA by
] Congress, has not demonstrated an appropriate level of
] commitment to an agency that is so important to the
] future of our nation. According to the report of the
] Columbia Accident Investigation Board, between 1993 and
] 2002, the federal government's discretionary spending
] grew in purchasing power by more than 25 percent. In
] contrast, NASA's budget went from $14.31 billion in
] Fiscal Year 1993, to a low of $13.6 billion in Fiscal
] Year 2000, and increasing to $14.87 billion in Fiscal
] Year 2002. This funding profile represented a loss of 13
] percent in purchasing power over the decade. We
] enthusiastically write to you today to clearly and
] unambiguously express our strong interest in
] reinvigorating NASA and turning this funding trend
] around.