2021 Federal Agenda

Federal Agenda 2021 HUNTSVILLE/MADISON COUNTY CHAMBER, ALABAMA TO THE MEMBERS OF THE ALABAMA CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION AND THEIR STAFF: We are grateful to the members of the Alabama Congressional delegation for their leadership on the issues critical to our Nation’s defense and space policies, especially those affecting the Huntsville/Madison County region. With your support, our region continues to prosper as a science and technology powerhouse.

We are confident that the Air Force made the correct decision to locate the U.S. Space Command HQ to Redstone Arsenal based on the merits of their evaluation of the potential sites. Continued vigilance is required to ensure that the decision is not reversed based on political pressures.

Our federally focused business community functions best with predictable and dependable funding for federal programs.

We request that our members vigorously support efforts to pass appropriations bills in a timely manner thus avoiding the prospect of continuing resolutions, which drive up program costs and adversely impact schedule delivery. We encourage Congress to support full funding for our nation’s space exploration programs and defense programs, especially U.S. Army modernization programs. We urge Congress to continue its efforts to increase, across the board, overall funding for science and technology and advanced research and development for defense and aerospace programs. Implementing a responsible and transparent method of Congressionally directed appropriations (earmarks), would restore the Constitutional “power of the purse,” bring more lawmakers to the negotiating table, and make federal spending more responsive to the taxpayers’ needs.

The Aviation and Missile Center (AvMC) employs nearly a quarter of the entire (43,000 person) workforce of Redstone Arsenal. The people and facilities of the AvMC are at the forefront of innovation and prototype development for the Army and a number of other federal agencies. Approximately 84 percent of AvMC funding comes from reimbursable customers who have leveraged these government and industry investments in science and technology. We are grateful to our Congressional delegation for directing the Secretary of Defense to promulgate policy to implement the ‘‘manage to budget’’ directive to allow lab and center directors to manage and optimize their reimbursable workloads and customers without regard for funding organization or Tables of Distribution and Allowances limitation.

Huntsville/Madison County has prided itself with its proactive approach to infrastructure development. Average local commute times are a fraction of those in other peer cities. Continued burgeoning economic expansion however will challenge our existing infrastructure’s capacity and our ability to accommodate further growth. Investments now in key infrastructure including new and improved roads, upgraded air service and airport facilities, and enhanced workforce development will be critical. As the Congress prepares to consider legislation to address our national infrastructure needs, the Huntsville region has shovel-ready, worker-ready, high priority projects.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on several economic sectors of our community. We encourage Congress to provide relief as needed to local businesses affected by the pandemic.

This Agenda summarizes the most critical federal issues facing our region. Additional information regarding these issues and a number of other important federal programs and issues that have significant local and national impact is included in the accompanying Issues Book.

THANK YOU FOR ALL THAT YOU DO ON OUR BEHALF, THE HUNTSVILLE/MADISON COUNTY CHAMBER

2021 FEDERAL AGENDA U.S. HUMAN SPACE FLIGHT & EXPLORATION POLICY The Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) continues to generate significant economic impact to the state, region and nation. Programs managed and supported by the Center have national significance and represent the most technically diverse portfolio of any NASA Center. MSFC has a recognized 60-year heritage leading complex engineering human-rated space transportation and propulsion systems, large space structures and systems, and scientific research to make human space exploration a reality. More than 6,000 jobs directly support the mission of MSFC, yielding a statewide economic impact of $4.3B and 24,400 jobs. Just as important is the fact that MSFC’s programs impact almost every state in the nation yielding a nationwide impact of 43,700 jobs and $8.3B to the U.S. economy.

Requested Actions: PROGRAMMATIC ■ Ensure SLS funding at a level to complete development for inservice date no later than 2021 with core and upper stages in parallel, ultimately capable of delivering 130 MT to low-Earth orbit; support Artemis 1/2/3 missions with block 1B ready for launch by 2025, sustain a cadence of once per year thereafter.

■ Encourage the fullest use of SLS as a national asset for crewed, science, and national security missions that can benefit from its unparalleled lift and payload capabilities.

■ Support the transition of the SLS from a development program to a more affordable and sustainable launch services model, managed by NASA MSFC, to provide launch support to enable exploration, national security, and scientific payload customers.

■ Support MSFC’s leadership role as the Agency’s lead for human-rated and large cargo landing systems.

■ Support continued funding of the ISS to realize the fullest science potential of the vehicle with utilization of MSFC ISS Payload Operations.

■ Support MSFC’s leadership role in lunar surface operations, advanced manufacturing, and habitation systems (surface, orbital and transit).

■ Support MSFC’s leadership role in the design and development of nuclear-based transportation and surface power systems for long-duration exploration missions beyond low-Earth orbit.

■ Maintain and enhance MSFC’s roles in Earth, Space and Planetary Science research, applications, and missions such as the Chandra, Fermi, and Lynx Observatories, Solar Cruiser and Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV).

■ Support a substantive role for MSFC and the University of Alabama Huntsville (UAH) in the National Space Weather Action Plan, including funding for the Parker Solar Probe’s SWEAP instrument.

■ Support robust funding for NASA’s SERVIR and SPoRT Earth Science programs, providing data for agriculture and disaster mitigation.

INSTITUTIONAL ■ Request Congress engage NASA to assess the Agency’s Mission Support Future Architecture Program (MAP) to ensure that the current and planned consolidation efforts are not negatively impacting the Center’s ability to manage and

page 1 execute its programs. This should include an assessment of the plan to consolidate contracts from a center to a corporate level and its associated impact on institutional budgets and the small business community.

■ Support utilization of MSFC engineering and management expertise by commercial interests in their development of space systems (specifically in the areas of propulsion, cryogenic fluid management, materials, and space structures/systems).

■ Sustain MSFC critical core technical and infrastructure capabilities by augmenting funding requested for the operation, maintenance and infrastructure recapitalization of the Center.

U.S. ARMY’S COMBAT CAPABILITIES DEVELOPMENT COMMAND (CCDC) AVIATION AND MISSILE CENTER (AvMC) The U.S. Army’s Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC) Aviation and Missile Center (AvMC) has been a cornerstone of research and development (R&D) on Redstone Arsenal for over 50 years. Approximately 84 percent of CCDC AvMC funding comes from reimbursable customers who have leveraged these government and industry investments in science and technology.

We are grateful to the Delegation for championing language to leverage the science and technology infrastructure at the AvMC to make it available to all Federal and industry customers by directing the Secretary of Defense to promulgate policy to fully implement the ‘‘manage to budget’’ flexibilities of subsection (e) of section 2358a of title 10, United States Code, to allow lab and center directors to manage and optimize their reimbursable workloads and customers without regard for funding organization or Tables of Distribution and Allowances limitations. Some of the workload can be handled with technically expert term civilian employees, using the authorities established in section 1109 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 (Public Law 114–92).

Requested Actions: ■ Continue to support using CCDC AvMC to assess commercial and defense component and system-level prototyping. innovations (6.2 and 6.3 funded technologies) prior to transition to a developmental program to reduce technology and programmatic transition risk.

HYPERSONIC WEAPON SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT & DEMONSTRATION (STRIKE AND DEFENSE) Due to the recent demonstrations of Hypersonic Strike Capabilities by near-peer adversaries, the Department of Defense (DoD) has intensified its focus to ensure the U.S. has both offensive and defensive capabilities to exceed and counter these evolving threats.

The DoD’s sense of urgency, reflected in the 2018 National Defense Strategy, is demonstrated by numerous prototyping efforts to rapidly close hypersonic test and evaluation gaps and to rapidly develop, demonstrate and ultimately field hypersonic capability for ground, air and ship launched long range strike missions. Similarly, MDA has responded to the National Defense Strategy prioritization with significant investment in bolstering the national BMDS to advance U.S. capability against hypersonic threats.

2021 FEDERAL AGENDA Requested Actions: ■ Fully fund Hypersonic Weapon System Development, Demonstration and Procurement to the FY21 President’s budget level in RDT&E, Defense-wide for development of Hypersonic Weapons.

■ Fully fund HSST and HyTIP program to the FY21 President’s budget level, Defense-wide for development of hypersonic ground and flight test infrastructure.

DIRECTED ENERGY WEAPONS Continued technological innovations in Directed Energy Weapons (DEW) are of increasing interest to the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), Department of Justice (DoJ), and Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Most notably, the development of solid-state High Energy Lasers (HEL), advances in High Power Microwaves (HPM) technologies, and advances in the size reduction of weapon system subsystems have transformed DEWs from “tomorrow to today.”

HEL and HPM provide new and promising innovations that will keep the U.S. ahead of the power curve on the modern battlefield, whether against near-peer nations or in the fight against non-state actors.

This perspective is reinforced by the shift in the National Defense Strategy from counterterrorism to great-power competition with near-peer adversaries. DEWs provide the Warfighter with the ability to engage a target at the speed of light and produce scalable effects from temporary to permanent, thereby reducing the possibility of collateral damage. They also provide a relatively unlimited number of low-cost shots, constrained only by the fuel supply of the platform, which greatly reduce the logistics tail and associated cost.

Requested Actions: ■ Increase funding to support additional procurement and fielding of DE-MSHORAD and IFPC-HEL. This assures the full fielding of the necessary combat capability to properly equip Army units with the tools to win on the battlefields of today and tomorrow.

■ Continue to fund and support the development of follow-on DE-MSHORAD and IFPC-HEL configurations in order to capitalize on DEW emerging technologies and capabilities.

■ Continue to fund IFPC-HPM efforts in order to serve as a combat multiplier with other DEW capabilities already in Army combat formations.

SUPPORT FOR ARMY MODERNIZATION EFFORTS The Army Futures Command has identified six priorities: long-range precision fires; next-generation combat vehicle; future vertical lift platforms; a mobile & expeditionary Army network; air & missile defense capabilities; and soldier lethality. Redstone directly supports three of these modernization priorities. As federal budgets tighten in the future, it’s imperative that Army modernization programs continue to receive the funding necessary to stand toe-to-toe with any peer nation. Our Nation’s ability to defend itself depends on advances in these critical technologies.

Requested Actions: ■ Provide full funding for FVL program.

■ Increase support for the APNT CFT S2S activities. Increase and

page 2 expedite analysis, experimentation, and operational assessments to solve the entire maneuver planning cycle of decide/detect/ deliver/assess (D3A) cycle and commander situational awareness and situational understanding of the battlespace.

■ Increase tactical space layer assets, national/tactical/commercial intelligence capabilities and universal ground control capabilities. This will significantly broaden the military usefulness allowing both the strategic, operational and tactical levels exploitation of persistent sensor data.

BIOSCIENCE Through collaborative and individual efforts by private companies, universities and research institutions, North Alabama plays a major role in advancing the United States’ position as the world leader in biosciences. Alabama’s federal delegation has prioritized the biosciences industry due to the positive health, agricultural and economic impacts, for which the Chamber is grateful. Through the support of Alabama’s federal delegation, the entities comprising the biosciences sector have made significant strides in diagnostics, therapeutics, genomic data analysis and security, crop selection and yields, entrepreneurship, and STEM education and workforce. This support, accompanied by increased research and industry collaboration, has enabled moving discoveries to applications more quickly and more often than ever before.

Over the past year, the global pandemic has illustrated the need for not only maintaining current levels of support but for increases in many of these areas. In many regions of the state, academia, the private sector and non-profit research institutions have contributed greatly in the battle against COVID-19. In Madison County, numerous biotech companies, colleges and universities and health care providers have come together to join forces in the fight against the pandemic. For example, on the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology campus alone, the non-profit scientists and the biotech companies, employing hundreds from North Alabama are fully engaged in this battle. These people are working in areas of public health, diagnostic testing, therapeutics, vaccines, data delivery and research on the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Requested Actions: ■ Support an increase in basic research funding support for the National Institutes of Health, specifically the National Human Genome Research Institute, the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute for Mental Health; the Department of Energy, specifically the Office of Science/Joint Genome Institute; the Department of Agriculture, specifically the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, the National Science Foundation and the Department of Defense.

■ Ensure priority support for collaborative efforts between the public and private sector. Emphasis should be given to efforts advancing the generation, analysis, storage, and security of genomic data in human health and agriculture areas.

■ Continue current and planned efforts to combat the global pandemic. These include resources for vaccine distribution; to speed the development of new diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines; to increase coordination between governmental and private organizations; and to assist businesses and areas of state and local governments that have been negatively impacted by COVID-19.

2021 FEDERAL AGENDA

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INCREASE CAP ON LOCAL PASSENGER FACILITY CHARGES (PFCs) Congress has not adjusted the $4.50 cap on PFCs since it set the cap in 2000. Since then, construction costs have risen more than 50 percent, severely eroding the purchasing power of the PFCs. Previous legislation, backed by Senator Susan Collins and Senator Jack Reed, would have increased the PFC cap to $8.50. This increase would restore the PFC’s lost purchasing power and allow airports to set their own levels based on locally determined needs to ensure the continued safety, security, and modernization of their facilities. America’s airports need nearly $130B in infrastructure over the next five years in order to match increased passenger traffic, which has doubled since 2000 to approximately one billion annually. Airports across the country and organizations like Airports Council International-North America and the American Association of Airport Executives have endorsed proposals asking Congress to eliminate the PFC cap entirely, or alternately, raise the cap and adjusting it periodically for

construction cost inflation. The PFC is a user fee that fairly and directly funds infrastructure improvements at airports. The Huntsville International Airport terminal, now 30 - 50 years old, requires an immediate infrastructure investment in order to meet the increased flow of passengers and goods. As larger airports are able to adjust the PFC, they will forego entitlements (AIP) and thus more funds will be available in the small community discretionary fund for airports like HSV. Requested Action: ■ Support infrastructure legislation that would increase the federal cap on local Passenger Facility Charges from $4.50 to $8.50 for origin and destination passengers only and to index for construction cost inflation. At a time when there is increasing pressure to reduce federal spending, eliminating the PFC cap would provide airports with the self-help they need to finance and complete critical infrastructure projects without relying on scarce federal funds.

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For more information, please contact: Mike Ward, CCE, IOM Senior Vice President, Government & Public Affairs Huntsville/Madison County Chamber 256-535-2030 mward@hsvchamber.org Amberly Kimbrough Events Coordinator Huntsville/Madison County Chamber 256-535-2031 akimbrough@hsvchamber.org