WASHINGTON, D.C. – This morning, Congressman Mo Brooks (AL-05) announced House passage of H.R. 2578, the FY 2016 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) Appropriations Act, by a vote of 242 to 183. The bill funds the Department of Commerce, the Department of Justice, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and other related agencies. H.R. 2578 contains $51.4 billion in total discretionary funding, and increases funding for the Space Launch System (SLS) by $150 million above the 2015 enacted level, providing a total of $1.85 billion for launch vehicle development. 
Many payloads expected to be launched on SLS require a large, or “enhanced,” upper stage that will add to the SLS’s capabilities. This appropriations bill includes $50 million for continued Enhanced Upper Stage (EUS) development, which is designed and tested in North Alabama. Further, H.R. 2578 designates the SLS, managed at Marshall Space Flight Center, as the launch vehicle for NASA’s planned mission to Jupiter’s Europa moon in 2022.
Mo Brooks
Congressman Brooks’ statement:
“To be the world’s preeminent space program, the United States must have a vehicle that gets humans to space. As the home to Marshall Space Flight Center, North Alabama has a strong heritage in human space exploration, which continues today with our role in building the rocket that will take us into deep space, and our future role in successfully extending human reach to Mars. The CJS Appropriations bill robustly funds well-balanced space exploration, science, and aeronautics programs, and fully funds the Space Launch System, which will allow us to meet program goals and stay on track for future missions. This bill is an investment in our future, providing NASA with an increase of $518.9 million in funding over the 2015 enacted level, setting the funding authorization and policy direction we need to maintain our preeminence in space and aeronautics.”
MEDIA RELEASE/OFFICE OF CONGRESSMAN MO BROOKS/ LAUREN VANDIVER
