Statement by Senator Obama on NASA's 50th Anniversary

Chicago, IL -- Senator Obama today released the following statement on the 50th Anniversary of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's signing of the legislation that created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA):

"Fifty years ago, President Eisenhower officially created the NASA space program, capturing the imagination of generations and inspiring Americans to think bigger, aim higher and believe in a greater tomorrow. When I was young, the astronauts would come to Hawaii after landing in the Pacific Ocean. I remember the incredible inspiration I felt from knowing that these men had gone where few had gone before them.

"In recent years, Washington has failed to give NASA a robust, balanced and adequately funded mission. Though the good people of NASA who work day in and day out on new frontiers are doing amazing things, Americans are no longer inspired as they once were. That's a failure of leadership.

"I believe we need to revitalize NASA's mission to maintain America's leadership, and recommit our nation to the space program, and as President I intend to do just that. We must revive the American ingenuity that led millions of children look to NASA astronauts and scientists as role models and enter the fields of math, engineering and science. Our leadership in the world depends on it."