Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - Spaceport for Texas demanded

Marketplace \| Services \| Contact Us \| Community \| Arts & Entertainment \| Local Guides

Saturday, April 1, 2000

Spaceport for Texas demanded
Gramm sets out terms for backing fund bill
By Tara Copp
Caller-Times

David Pellerin/Caller-Times

Sen. Phil Gramm answers questions from reporters about the spaceport. Gramm has demanded that Space Access LLC commit to building the spaceport in Texas before he'll support loan guarantee legislation for it.

  A frustrated Sen. Phil Gramm said Space Access LLC would have to commit to Texas and prove that it has investors lined up before he'll support loan guarantee legislation for a spaceport.
   If Space Access president Steve Wurst provides both, Gramm said, he'd be willing to sponsor, and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison said she would co-sponsor, a stand-alone bill this session for the government loan guarantees that Wurst says are vital to launching the next-generation space shuttle.
   Gramm halted an effort Thursday to attach the guarantees to another Senate bill, which prompted Wurst to question whether he'd locate a spaceport in Kenedy or Brazoria counties. But Gramm, who was in Corpus Christi with Hutchison on Friday to attend the groundbreaking for a new airport terminal, made no apologies for his actions Thursday.
   "Anybody who believes I am going to commit the American taxpayer to $5 billion in loans before any study, before any investment contract is signed, has a complete misperception of how government works," Gramm said. "There's never been a congressional hearing on this subject. They need to stop lobbying and start doing their due diligence."
   Also key, Gramm said, is commitment to Texas.
   "We've got to get beyond this business of 'You need so-and-so or we'll do something else,' " Gramm said. "When you go to a wedding you only say 'I do' to one person."
   A harder endeavor
   If those hurdles are overcome, Gramm said, he could sponsor a stand-alone bill this session, though it could still face a lengthy legislative process. Gramm chairs the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, and with few exceptions, bills related to loans and banking legislation go through him and his committee on their way to becoming law.
   "It's possible, if we can get everything done that needs to be done," Gramm said. "But getting it all the way through is much harder."
   Kingsville Mayor Phil Esquivel agreed with Gramm's logic.
   "If it's going to happen in Texas, it'll happen 100 percent," Esquivel said. "We'd love to have it happen right now, but we'd much rather have it in place in a manner that it will be there for future generations than to have a weaker plan."
   Sound financing
   One of Space Access' primary investors, Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, which has pulled together $18 billion since 1993 to finance commercial space launches, presented Gramm's staff last month with an outline for how the government loan guarantees could be used. But Gramm said more study is needed.
   "We have talked in general terms, but in terms of a financial plan I haven't seen it," Gramm said.
   Hutchison said she'd support the bill.
   "Absolutely," Hutchison said. "I'd want to support him. We've got to make sure it's a sound project, that it has a sound financing scheme."
   Another route local politicians said they will pursue is getting more state-level support.
   "It's so important we stay on track. It's our future," said City Councilman Arnold Gonzales.
   The Texas Legislature needs to give the spaceport financial incentives in its 2001 session, Esquivel said. In the 1999 session the Legislature created a spaceport authority that gives a spaceport entity tax incentives and the power of eminent domain to acquire land for its site.
   "It's very important the state funds it as well," Esquivel said.
   Bill is sidetracked
   On Thursday, Sen. John Breaux, D-La., tried to get an amendment offering loan guarantees to the commercial spaceport industry attached to a bill that would help bring local television service to rural areas.
   Gramm, who led the Senate floor fight for the larger bill, asked that the Breaux amendment not be introduced, saying it would be irrelevant to the bill. As a result of Gramm's action, the amendment could not be introduced.
   The action disappointed several local officials who have been working during the past two years to bring Space Access to South Texas. After the Senate floor action, Wurst, who has previously committed to building his SA-1 in Texas, would not repeat his earlier commitment. Instead, he said he would "have to have the support of the area that it's going to benefit the most. It's crucial to the overall effort."
   Possible homes
   Both of Florida's senators, Democrat Bob Graham and Republican Connie Mack, were cosponsors of a February 1999 Breaux bill that also sought government loan guarantees.
   Neither Gramm nor Hutchison were co-sponsors.
   Florida also recently finished its full environmental impact study at Homestead Air Force Base, which originally was one of Wurst's top choices. Texas hasn't completed a full study for its two candidate sites in Kenedy County and Brazoria County. The study could cost close to $500,000.
   The SA-1 would use a patented engine to take off into and return from space like an airplane. Wurst has previously said he is committed to building the spacecraft and its support facilities in either Kenedy or Brazoria counties.


Business writer Tara Copp can be reached at 886-4316 or by e-mail at coppt@caller.com

| Talk about this story | Next Story | Home |

[ Printer-friendly version ]
[ Subscribe to newspaper ]

SEND THIS PAGE TO A FRIEND

[an error occurred while processing this directive]