108TH CONGRESS REPT. 108–62 " HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ! 1st Session Part 1

COLUMBIA ORBITER MEMORIAL ACT

APRIL 8, 2003.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of 

the Union and ordered to be printed 

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, from the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, 

submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 1297] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

The Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, to whom was referred the 

bill (H.R. 1297) to require the construction at Arlington National 

Cemetery of a memorial to the crew of the Columbia Orbiter, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that the bill do pass. 

INTRODUCTION

The reported bill reflects the Committee’s consideration of H.R. 

1297. 

On March 13, 2003, Representative C. W. Bill Young introduced 

H.R. 1297, to require the construction at Arlington National Cemetery of a memorial to the crew of the Columbia Orbiter. 

On April 3, 2003, the full Committee met and ordered H.R. 1297 

reported favorably to the House by unanimous voice vote. 

SUMMARY OF THE REPORTED BILL

H.R. 1297 would: 

1. Require the Secretary of the Army, in consultation with the 

Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, to construct at Arlington National Cemetery a memorial marker honoring the seven members of the crew of the 

Columbia Orbiter who died on February 1, 2003. 

2. Make available $500,000 from the Operation and Maintenance, Army, account appropriated under title II of the De-
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partment of Defense Appropriations Act for 2003 (Public Law 

107–248), for construction of the memorial. 

3. Authorize the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration to accept gifts and donations of services, 

money, and property for the purpose of the construction of the 

memorial. 

4. Authorize the Administrator to transfer services, money, and 

property to the Secretary of the Army for the purpose of the 

construction of the memorial marker. Any money transferred 

would be merged into the funds available from the Operation 

and Maintenance, Army, account. 

5. Authorize the Administrator to accept gifts and donations for 

construction of the memorial for five years following the date 

of enactment of this Act. 

BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION

On January 16, 2003, at 10:39 a.m., the STS–107 Columbia

launched into orbit for a 16-day microgravity research mission. Columbia was the oldest orbiter in the Shuttle fleet. In 1981, it was 

the first space shuttle to fly into Earth orbit. This was the 113th 

Shuttle Mission for Columbia. On board were seven astronauts: 

Crew Commander Rick Husband (Colonel, U.S. Air Force), Shuttle 

Pilot William McCool (Commander, U.S. Navy), Payload Commander Michael Anderson (Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Air Force), 

Mission Specialist Kalpana Chawla, Ph.D., Mission Specialist 

David Brown (Captain, U.S. Navy), Mission Specialist Laurel Blair 

Salton Clark, M.D. (Captain, U.S. Navy), and Payload Specialist 

Ilan Ramon (Colonel, Israel Air Force). STS–107 Columbia was the 

first space flight experience for all but three of the crew members. 

The crew worked 24 hours a day in two alternating shifts, and conducted approximately 80 scientific experiments. 

At 8:15 a.m. EST, on February 1, 2003, Columbia decelerated to 

begin the reentry phase into the atmosphere for a planned landing 

at Kennedy Space Center. At 8:52 a.m., Columbia crossed over the 

coast of California. At 8:58 a.m., Columbia was over New Mexico. 

Loss of communication with the crew and of data occurred shortly 

after 8:59 a.m. About 16 minutes before its scheduled landing, the 

shuttle broke up while traveling at 12,500 miles per hour at an altitude of 207,135 feet over East Central Texas, resulting in the loss 

of both the Columbia and its crew. 

Lieutenant Colonel Anderson, Captain Brown, and Captain Clark 

are interred at Arlington National Cemetery. 

H.R. 1297 would authorize the construction of a memorial honoring the seven crew members of STS–107 Columbia, all of whom 

excelled in their careers and died while fulfilling their dreams of 

traveling in space. 

A precedent for this memorial at Arlington National Cemetery 

currently exists. On January 28, 1986, the Shuttle Challenger exploded just seconds after take off, killing all seven crew members 

on board. The pilot of the Challenger, Captain Michael Smith, and 

the Shuttle Commander, Francis ‘‘Dick’’ Scobee, were interred at 

Arlington National Cemetery. The unidentified remains of all seven 

astronauts were later interred near Commander Scobee’s grave. On 

June 12, 1986, the 99th Congress passed a concurrent resolution 
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authorizing the Secretary of the Army to construct and place a memorial at Arlington National Cemetery honoring all seven members 

of the Challenger crew. The memorial was dedicated on March 21, 

1987. 

It is the Committee’s intent that a memorial similar in stature 

to the Challenger memorial be erected in honor of the Columbia

crew. 

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1 would provide that this Act be cited as the ‘‘Columbia 

Orbiter Memorial Act’’. 

Section 2(a) would require the Secretary of the Army, in consultation with the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration, to construct at Arlington National Cemetery, 

a memorial marker honoring the seven crew members of the Columbia Orbiter who died on February 1, 2003, during the landing 

of space shuttle mission STS–107. 

Section 2(b) would provide that $500,000 from title II of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2003 (Public Law 107–

248), Operation and Maintenance, Army, be available for the construction of the memorial marker required by subsection (a). 

Section 3(a) would provide the Administrator of the National 

Aeronautics and Space Administration the authority to accept gifts 

and donations of services, money and property (including personal, 

tangible, or intangible property) for the purpose of an appropriate 

memorial or monument, whether such memorial or monument is 

constructed by the Administrator or is the memorial marker required by section 2. 

Section 3(b)(1) would provide authority for the Administrator to 

transfer to the Secretary of the Army any services, money, or property accepted by the Administrator for the purpose of the construction of the memorial marker. 

Section 3(b)(2) would require that any moneys transferred to the 

Secretary under paragraph 3(1) be merged with appropriated 

amounts from the Operation And Maintenance, Army account. 

Section 3(c) would provide that the authority for the Administrator to accept gifts and donations for the construction of a memorial expires five years after date of enactment of this Act. 

PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

The reported bill would authorize a memorial in Arlington National Cemetery in honor of the Columbia Shuttle crew, who died 

on February 1, 2003. The Cemetery’s performance goals and objectives are established in annual performance plans and are subject 

to the Committee’s regular oversight. 

STATEMENT OF THE VIEWS OF THE ADMINISTRATION

At the time of consideration, views of the Administration were 

not available. 

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE

The following letter was received from the Congressional Budget 

Office concerning the cost of the reported bill:
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U.S. CONGRESS, CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE, Washington, DC, April 4, 2003

Hon. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, 

Chairman, Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, 

House of Representatives, Washington, DC. 

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 1297, the Columbia Orbiter Memorial Act. 

If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be pleased 

to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Melissa E. Zimmerman, 

who can be reached at 226–2840.

Sincerely, 

DOUGLAS HOLTZ-EAKIN, 

Director. 

Enclosure. 

H.R. 1297, Columbia Orbiter Memorial Act, As ordered reported by 

the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs on April 3, 2003 

H.R. 1297 would direct the Secretary of the Army to construct a 

memorial marker located in Arlington National Cemetery to honor 

the astronauts who died in the Columbia space shuttle accident on 

February 1, 2003, and would earmark $500,000 from funds made 

available by title II of the Department of Defense Appropriations 

Act, 2003 to be used to construct the memorial marker. The bill 

also would authorize the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to collect donations that may be transferred to the 

Secretary of the Army to pay for construction of the memorial. 

According to information provided by Arlington National Cemetery, CBO expects that the Columbia Orbiter Memorial would be 

similar in size and cost to an existing memorial marker dedicated 

to the astronauts who died in the Challenger space shuttle accident 

in 1986. That memorial marker was dedicated in 1987 and cost 

about $10,000. 

After adjusting the cost of the Challenger memorial marker to account for inflation, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 1297 

would cost less than $20,000 and that some of that cost may be offset by donations collected by NASA. (Donations are recorded on the 

budget as revenues.) 

H.R. 1297 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would 

not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments. 

On April 2, 2003, CBO transmitted cost estimates for H.R. 1297 

as ordered reported by the House Committee on Science on March 

26, 2003, and for S. 628 as passed by the Senate on March 18, 

2003. All three versions of the legislation are identical, as are the 

three estimates. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Melissa E. Zimmerman, who can be reached at 226–2840. This estimate was approved 

by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget 

Analysis. 
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STATEMENT OF FEDERAL MANDATES

The reported bill would not establish a federal mandate under 

the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act, Public Law 104–4. 

STATEMENT OF CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY

Pursuant to Article I, section 8, of the United States Constitution, the reported bill is authorized by Congress’ power to ‘‘provide 

for the common Defense and general Welfare of the United States.’’

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