Vice Presidential Pool Reports of January 31, 2023

VP pool report #1 - Space medal ceremony begins

Good afternoon all,

I'll be your pooler for the VP's awarding of the Congressional Space Medal of Honor this afternoon.

The honorees entered the treaty room at 4:33 to applause and the VP followed wearing a black suit and white blouse. She began speaking to start the ceremony.

The pool was tested and is gathered in the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. Some background on the ceremony is below.

It is being streamed on whitehouse.gov/live, so will send highlights and color here.

Inside the room on a small stage, a podium and a small table holding the medals are set up for the ceremony. When pool entered, the room was filled with rows of chairs and people — about 75 milling around and chatting, several in uniform. Your pooler spotted Sen. Mark Kelly, another former astronaut, in the front row. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson entered the room shortly before the ceremony began along with the awardees' families.

On Background from a White House Official

Today at 4:25PM ET, Vice President Harris, Chair of the National Space Council, will present the Congressional Space Medal of Honor on behalf of President Joe Biden to NASA astronauts Douglas Hurley (Col, USMC, Ret.) and Robert Behnken (Col, USAF, Ret.) for their bravery and leadership as test pilots in the inaugural NASA Commercial Crew mission (Demo-2) to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2020. The ceremony will be livestreamed onWhitehouse.gov/live.

In May of 2020, Hurley and Behnken became the first astronauts to launch to orbit from the United States in almost nine years. Demo-2 marked a new era of spaceflight, with American astronauts on American rockets launching from American soil. It was also the first crewed launch for SpaceX, and the culmination of a decade of hard work in NASA's Commercial Crew Program.

A key priority of the 2010 Obama-Biden National Space Policy was to transition from a U.S. government-owned and operated human spaceflight capability (i.e. the Space Shuttle program) to a public-private partnership whereby the U.S. relied on commercial providers for crew transport to and from the ISS. NASA has contracted two companies to provide crew capsules: SpaceX and Boeing. SpaceX was the first to develop capabilities leading to the Demo-2 mission. Since the success of Demo-2 mission, five crewed missions have been launched to the ISS carrying 13 American and 7 international astronauts.

Additional Background on the Congressional Space Medal of Honor

The Congressional Space Medal of Honor was authorized by Congress in 1969 to recognize "any astronaut who in the performance of his duties has distinguished himself or herself by exceptionally meritorious efforts and contributions to the welfare of the nation and mankind." Since its inception, the honor has been awarded to 28 people. Of those 28 heroes, 17 received this award posthumously (the crews of Apollo 1, Space Shuttle Challenger, and Space Shuttle Columbia).

This is the first time the Congressional Space Medal of Honor has been awarded since 2006.

Additional Background on Vice President Harris' Leadership on Space

• In January 2022, the Vice President hosted Prime Minister Kishida Fumio for a breakfast meeting and welcomed the signing of the U.S.-Japan Space Framework Agreement, which she discussed with Prime Minister Kishida in Tokyo in September 2022. They agreed to strengthen cooperation in space across multiple sectors including security, commercial, and civil-space opportunities.
• In November 2022, the Vice President hosted President Emmanuel Macron of France at NASA as part of the State Visit, to highlight the strong U.S.-France partnership in outer space, and agreed to strengthen U.S.-France space cooperation across civil, commercial, and national security sectors.
• In September 2022, the Vice President convened the second meeting of the National Space Council at Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX where she announced new commitments from the U.S. government, private sector companies, education and training providers, and philanthropic organizations to support space-related STEM initiatives to inspire, prepare, and employ the next generation of the space workforce. During the meeting, Space Council members discussed advancing the Council's priorities in expanding Space STEM education and workforce development, human space exploration, and rules for commercial novel space activities.
• In August 2022, the Vice President visited Kennedy Space Center for the first attempt of NASA's Artemis I launch and toured Artemis II and Artemis III mission hardware.
• In August 2022, the Vice President met with private sector leaders at Chabot Space & Science Center in Oakland, CA and delivered remarks on the Administration's efforts to foster a burgeoning and globally competitive U.S. commercial space sector.
• In July 2022, the Vice President joined the President and the NASA Administrator to make public the first images from the Webb Space Telescope.
• In April 2022, at Vandenberg Space Force Base, the Vice President announced the United States commitment not to conduct destructive, direct ascent anti-satellite tests, demonstrating global leadership in commitment to norms for sustainable space activities. On December 7, 2022, the United Nations General Assembly passed a Resolution in support of this commitment.
• In December 2021, the Vice President chaired the Administration's inaugural National Space Council meeting and announced and presented the United States Space Priorities Framework and highlighted whole-of-government work on climate science, space STEM and workforce issues, and norms and space sustainability.
• In November 2021, the Vice President visited Goddard Space Center to view the first images from Landsat 9, underscoring how the Nation's space program contributes to our understanding of the changing climate.
• In September 2021, the Vice President visited Hampton University to recognize the contributions of HBCUs and minorities in STEM fields and how their contributions impact the future success of our nation's workforce.
• The Vice President has also engaged with NASA Astronauts on Earth and aboard the International Space Station, including Mark Vande Hei, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker, Katie Rubins, Anne McClain as well as members of NASA's Crew-4 mission (Bob Hines, Kjell Lindgren, and Jessica Watkins) while the Vice President visited Mission Control at Johnson Space Center.

VP pool report #2 - Space medal ceremony highlights

The VP began by telling the story of how the space shuttle program ended years ago, but she noted that America had a future "vision" for a new era of human spaceflight, which today's honorees helped launch in 2020.

The launch of the SpaceX capsule was a result of "decades of know-how" and hundreds of hours of work from astronauts Behnken and Hurley.

"Millions of Americans watched that day" she said.

"We witnessed American astronauts launch an American rocket from American soil," for the first time that day, the VP said, calling it a "new chapter in the history of American space flight."

She spoke about the US' space objectives in the coming years — return Americans to the moon, fly everyday people into space.

She had three engineering students in the audience raise their hand, "who may one day" stand on the shoulders of today's astronauts.

A military aide read the citations for the awards — Hurley first, then Behnken— and the VP fastened the medals around their necks, shaking their hands. The three posed for a photo.

"Bob and Doug represent the best of our nation," the VP spoke again, referencing a reception to follow.

The ceremony ended at 4:51 and the VP left the stage.

Pool was guided out of the room. That's it from me, thanks all!