Representative Christian Menefee (D-TX) is leading a coalition of Democrats in the Texas delegation in urging the Presidential Commission on the United States Space Academy to locate the new institution in Texas.
In a letter signed by 11 other Democratic Texas Congress members issued last week, the group urged the Commission to select Texas as the permanent home of the new academy. Recently, Republican members of the delegation have also publicly championed Texas as the site for the academy.
Rep. Menefee said the Democratic support will help unite Texans across party lines behind the state's bid to host the U.S. Space Academy.
"Texas has the history, the infrastructure, and the workforce this Academy needs on day one," Rep. Menefee said. "That is true regardless of party, and it is why members from across the Texas delegation are making the same case to the Commission."
The letter argues that Texas has the infrastructure, workforce, universities and space-industry base needed to establish and operate the academy.
“From the plains of the Panhandle to the Gulf Coast to the Rio Grande Valley, our state already operates the workforce, the infrastructure and the industry base this Academy will need to be successful,” the lawmakers wrote.
The letter also points to the state being the “energy capital of the world,” arguing that Texas’s experience training workers for high-pressure energy jobs translates directly to the needs of the aerospace industry.
“For decades our state has trained engineers and skilled tradespeople for high pressure, high stakes work in the energy industry,” the lawmakers wrote. “We’re doing the same in aerospace: our workers are reading complex systems, working under pressure and solving problems in the field rather than only in a lab.”
