The crowd included several members of Congress including House Majority Leader Tom Delay, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), who flew a 1986 mission aboard shuttle Columbia as chairman of the House Science Committee.

Also present were Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY), the current Chairman of the House Science Committee, Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.) the ranking minority member of the Science Committee, Rep. Bud Cramer (D-Ala.) and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Tex.).

Delay said getting the President’s budget plan for the new program through Congress would not be a problem. “The wealth of this nation can sustain a program like this,” Delay said in an interview after Bush left the auditorium. “As the economy continues to grow and expand we will be able to afford an even more ambitious program in the future.”

Sen. Nelson agreed. “The President has given us the vision; now we have to put the juice behind it,” he said. Nelson said he also is eager to see the details of the budget plan, particularly how it will affect other NASA programs.

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