As you may recall, the Russian Service Module, which is the first Russian-funded component of the space station, was supposed to be launched in April of this year. The Service Module's original April 1998 launch date was revised to December 1998 and has been pushed back to April 1999. Unbelievably, the Administration has done nothing to address this problem. NASA seems to have resigned itself to continued Russian failings. And the Russian situation is not getting any better.
Bad news continues to flow in everyday.
Russia finds itself in the throes of a rampant financial crisis, which could cripple the nation's economy and destabilize its fragile and precarious political environment. It is critical that Russia's mistakes and delays are dealt with quickly and effectively. If they are not, the necessary political support to sustain the space station will undoubtedly start to erode. We cannot let this happen. That is why my committee has tried to work with NASA and the White House to find solutions to these problems.