January 15, 2004 - In the euphoria of NASA's first successful robotic exploration of the Martian surface since Pathfinder the President is calling for the United States to commit itself to erect a permanent base on the Moon by 2015. The cost is estimated at a little over a trillion dollars - just slightly less than the famous $1.2 Trillion tax cut that the Bush Administration handed out. Put another way it is just over twice the current annual deficit and about 10 times the amount spent on the occupying Iraq this year. It is a matter of national priorities.

We are unwilling to make it a matter of national priority that a child born in 2003 will be guaranteed access to quality health care by 2015 though every other industrialized nation has long ago made that guarantee to each of its citizens. We are unwilling to commit ourselves to a comprehensive program to rebuild and modernize our decaying infrastructure before 2015, though the neglect of our roads, bridges and public buildings take a toll on our economic engine that increases in cost each day. We are unwilling to make the investment to make energy independence and reduced dependence on fossil fuels an achievable goal by 2015. We are unwilling to make the investment to guarantee that each child has access to a quality education to enable that child to achieve excellence within his capabilities and instead create a system of leveling standards with a one-size-fits-all education policy. Yet the President wants us to sign the mortgage to build Moon Base Bush.

What is the practical purpose of building a permanent colony on the inhospitable lunar surface? Yes, it could serve as a stepping stone to the exploration of Mars. Yes, the project could serve as a catalyst for technological developments just as our prior space programs have done. Yes, and ominously, it could serve as a dominating military base enabling us project overwhelming devastating force upon any terrestrial rival. The specter of Soviet domination of the moon, threatening our nation in large part drove President Kennedy's initiation of the Moon program forty years ago. And yes, it will enable us to expand our knowledge of our nearest astral neighbors, but so will our present program of robotic exploration and at far less cost and without the hazard to life that the Lunar and Martian environments pose to the human explorer.

We know the benefits of health care and education. We know the necessity of restoring and modernizing our infrastructure. We know that it is a matter of necessity and national security to become energy independent. We should recognize that it is an urgent national security need to reclaim our vital manufacturing sector if for no other reason than to insure that our weapons systems do not rely upon parts manufactured in foreign factories.

Dreams of bold thrusts beyond the bounds of Earth have always been with us. Reaching for the stars is an expression of the human spirit and imagination. A thirst for knowledge of the unknown is part of the human psyche. But before we boldly go where no man has gone before is it not our responsibility to elevate the human condition where we call home? When we have devoted the resources to meet the challenges of living on the planet we call home there will be time enough to journey to the stars.