By 
September 28th, 2021
Credit: U.S. Space Force
A “No Militarization of Space Act” has been introduced, centered on abolishing the U.S. Space Force.
Calling the Space Force “costly and unnecessary,” Representative Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) the Act is timed as Congress moves to pass the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the annual bill that authorizes funding for the Pentagon.
“The long-standing neutrality of space has fostered a competitive, non-militarized age of exploration every nation and generation has valued since the first days of space travel,” Huffman says in a statement. “But since its creation under the former Trump administration, the Space Force has threatened longstanding peace and flagrantly wasted billions of taxpayer dollars.”
President Donald Trump signs S.1790, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 on, Friday, Dec. 20, 2019 at Joint Base Andrews. The act directed the establishment of the U.S. Space Force as the sixth branch of the armed forces.
Credit: Airman 1st Class Spencer Slocum, 11th Wing Public Affairs
Taxpayer boondoggle
The lawmaker says that the Space Force has quickly become a taxpayer boondoggle “that adds layers of bureaucracy and waste to an already-bloated defense budget.”
Huffman was joined in the introduction by Representatives Mark Pocan (WI-02), Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-04), Rashida Tlaib (MI-13), and Maxine Waters (CA-43).
This legislation is endorsed by Taxpayers for Common Sense, National Taxpayers Union, Peace Action, R Street Institute, and Demand Progress.
General Jay Raymond the first Chief of Space Operations and first member of the Space Force.
Bureaucratic confusion
The U.S. Space Force was established on December 20, 2019 with enactment of the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act.
Huffman’s website notes that the U.S. military spending topped nearly $704 billion dollars in fiscal year 2021, including $15.5 billion for the Space Force. The Space Force unnecessarily duplicates much of the existing work within the Air Force including that of Space Command, thereby creating “bureaucratic confusion and further waste and risking American and allied national security,” the website adds.
To view H. R. 5335 “To abolish the Space Force as an Armed Force, and for other purposes,” go to:
https://www.congress.gov/117/bills/hr5335/BILLS-117hr5335ih.pdf
Posted in Space News
Huffman’s rationale is flawed. It is too late and unwise to find military contribution to space activity unnecessary. The Bill betrays the sponsors’ inexperience and misunderstanding. I am certain that the current military budgets already include most of the Space Force funding and function. That said, if the functions exist in then current organization, why was a new organization required? Some feel that military space is a poor relation in budget battles. A Space Force only moves the competition to the next highest level, which is removed from performing the missions. There is expansion of staffs and non-combat activities, such as R&D, acquisition, and the annual budgeting process. Sound technical advancement will be compromised. As a very junior officer, I was dragged into Proxmire Amendment turmoil. The definition of basic research is that it does not yet enjoy practical application. Yet Proxmire required that every R&D activity be directly related to national defense. I agree that a Space Force is not necessary, but based on my decades of experience, not disingenuous criticism.
Die Space Force hat ihre Berechtigung zur Verteidigung der Erde gegen Asteroiden etc.
Next step…Go deeper in Space faster than WARP….. with a big Spacecraft Group… rewrite Einstein Star black hole for Spaceships…..