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Lawmakers question objectivity { February 12 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61748-2003Feb12.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61748-2003Feb12.html
Lawmakers Question Objectivity of Shuttle Probe
Key Republicans, Democrats Urge Expanded Panel Free of NASA Influence
By Eric Pianin and Rob Stein
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, February 12, 2003; 11:31 AM
A number of key Republican members of Congress today joined Democrats in questioning the independence and objectivity of a commission investigating the space shuttle Columbia disaster, as pressure mounted to expand the panel and give it total freedom from NASA officials.
As Congress opened its own probe into Columbia's destruction with an unusual joint hearing, the ranks of legislators voicing concern about the make-up and mandate of the panel probing the accident swelled to include members from both houses and both parties. Lawmakers said that at a minimum, the commission headed by retired Adm. Harold W. Gehman Jr. must be totally insulated from possible NASA influence by changing the commission's charter and that the current nine-member panel must be expanded to include several outside scientists and experts. A few called for the appointment of a blue ribbon presidential commission, similar to the one created following the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger in 1986.
"The words of the [commission's] charter simply do not guarantee the independence and latitude that both the [NASA] administrator and the admiral have sincerely promised," House Science Committee Chairman Sherwood L. Boehlert (R-N.Y.) said at the outset of the hearing. "The charter's words need to match everyone's intent now to avoid any problems later."
NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe, the lone witness at the four-hour hearing, defended the investigation but left open the possibility of adding additional members with more distance from the space agency and possibly further amending the panel's charter. By the end of the session, however, O'Keefe signaled that the Bush administration would give the commission members carte blanche to conduct the probe as they see fit.. "We hear you and we're moving," O'Keefe told Boehlert before leaving the hearing room in the Senate Russell Office Building.
The hearing, jointly conducted by Boehlert and Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.), ranged widely from the latest theories on the likely cause of the disaster to troubling questions about whether Congress and NASA were complicit in the accident because they gradually cut spending for the space shuttle during the past decade.
Without ruling out any theory, O'Keefe said it was unlikely the breakup of the Columbia over East Texas that took the lives of the seven-member crew was caused by a block of foam insulation striking the left wing 80 seconds after liftoff. He also doubted the disaster resulted from Columbia's age or human error. O'Keefe also said that he doubted the tragic accident was related to budget problems, citing NASA statistics showing that even as program spending declined, the efficiency of the shuttle operation increased and the number of problems associated with each mission decreased.
"The immediate task before the agency is clear," O'Keefe told the lawmakers. "We will find the problem that caused the loss of Columbia and its crew, we will fix it, and we will return to flight operations that are as safe as humanly possible in pursuit of knowledge."
"We have an independent accident investigation board of truly outstanding and eminently qualified individuals," he added, "and they, and they alone, will determine thee cause of the accident and its remedy--no matter where it leads."
© 2003 The Washington Post Company
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