Texas politicians warn Smithsonian it must not lobby to retain its space shuttle

Summary

(Oddly, Cornyn and Weber's letter to Roberts described the law as requiring Duffy "to transfer a space vehicle involved in the Commercial Crew Program" rather than choosing a destination NASA center related to the same, as the bill actually reads. Taken as written, if that was indeed their intent, Discovery and the other retired shuttles would be exempt, as the winged orbiters were never part of that program. A request for clarification sent to both Congress members' offices was not immediately answered.) Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX, at right) sits in front of a model of Space Shuttle Discovery at Space Center Houston, where they want to move the real orbiter. Credit: collectSPACE.com In the letter, Cornyn and Weber cited the Anti-Lobbying Act as restricting the use of funds provided by the federal government to "influence members of the public to pressure Congress regarding legislation or appropriations matters." "As the Smithsonian Institution receives annual appropriations from Congress, it is subject to the restrictions imposed by this statute," they wrote. The money that Congress allocates to the Smithsonian accounts for about two-thirds of the Institution's annual budget, primarily covering federal staff salaries, collections care, facilities maintenance, and the construction and revitalization of the buildings that house the Smithsonian's 21 museums and other centers. Pols want Smithsonian to stay mum As evidence of the Smithsonian's alleged wrongdoing, Cornyn and Weber cited a July 11 article by Zach Vasile for Flying Magazine, which ran under the headline "Smithsonian Pushing Back on Plans to Relocate Space Shuttle." Vasile quoted from a message the Institution sent to Congress saying that there was no precedent for removing an object from its collection to send it elsewhere. The Texas officials wrote that the anti-lobbying restrictions apply to "staff time or public relations resources" and claimed that the Smithsonian's actions did not fall under the law's exe...