JOHN MCCAIN ON THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF NASA

ARLINGTON, VA -- U.S. Senator John McCain issued the following statement on the 50th anniversary of NASA:

"Fifty years ago today, President Eisenhower signed the bill that launched the United States on the magnificent journey to space discovery and exploration. In doing so, he sent a powerful message to the world that the United States would harness its creativity, inventiveness and drive to lead all others into this most distant frontier. Since that time, Presidents of both parties have remained steadfast in guaranteeing U.S. leadership in space. Under current plans, the United States will retire the space shuttle in 2010 after its final mission to the International Space Station, and thus lose the capability to send on our own, an American, to space. While my opponent seems content to retreat from American exploration of space for a decade, I am not. As President, I will act to ensure our astronauts will continue to explore space, and not just by hitching a ride with someone else. I intend to make sure that the NASA Constellation program ha s the resources it needs so that we can begin a new era of human space exploration. A country that sent a man to the moon should expect no less