re: Congressman defines
Just for the record, Dave Weldon was on the Science Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics for 8 years, and was co-founder and chairman of the Congressional Aerospace Caucus. I'm not that familiar with his background, but he may not be entirely dim.
And he has a point. If NASA tries to make this into another X-33-type "technological advancement" project, it's going to wind up costing billions and delivering nothing. There is no reason a ballistic vehicle, possible with some lifting aerodynamics like Apollo, could not do the job.