I 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4917 
To formulate situation and decision analyses, and to select procedures and 
systems, for deflecting and mitigating potentially hazardous near-Earth 
objects. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 19, 2007 
Mr. ROHRABACHER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Science and Technology 
A BILL 
To formulate situation and decision analyses, and to select 
procedures and systems, for deflecting and mitigating 
potentially hazardous near-Earth objects. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘NEO Preparedness 
Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) Asteroid and comet collisions rank as one of 
the most costly natural disasters that can occur. 
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(2) According to the October 2007 report to 
Congress by the National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration (in this Act referred to as ‘‘NASA’’), 
140-meter-in-diameter asteroid collision will generate 
the equivalent power of a 100 megaton TNT explo-
sion. 
(3) There are approximately 100,000 near- 
Earth objects 140 meters wide or larger. 
(4) The time needed to eliminate or mitigate 
the threat of a collision of a potentially hazardous 
near-Earth object with Earth is measured in dec-
ades. 
(5) Unlike earthquakes and hurricanes, aster-
oids and comets can provide adequate collision infor-
mation, enabling the United States to include both 
asteroid- and comet-collision disaster recovery and 
disaster avoidance in its public-safety structure. 
(6) Basic information is needed for technical 
and policy decisionmaking for the United States to 
create a comprehensive program in order to be ready 
to eliminate and mitigate the serious and credible 
threats to humankind posed by potentially hazardous 
near-Earth asteroids and comets. 
(7) As a first step to eliminate and to mitigate 
the risk of such collisions, situation and decision- 
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analysis processes, as well as procedures and system 
resources, must be in place well before a collision 
threat becomes known. 
(8) Without establishing such processes, proce-
dures, and resources, the full range of options to 
eliminate and to mitigate the risk of such collisions 
is restricted or even lost. 
(9) The public safety of the United States and 
the planet requires the competence and expertise 
found in NASA to prepare and to validate the poten-
tially hazardous near-Earth object deflection situa-
tion and decisionmaking analysis, as well as to select 
systems and procedures, to prepare the United 
States for readiness to avoid or to mitigate collisions 
with potentially hazardous near-Earth objects. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
As used in this Act— 
(1) ‘‘potentially hazardous near-Earth object’’ 
means an asteroid or comet with a trajectory that 
passes less than 0.05 Astronomical Units from 
Earth’s orbit; 
(2) ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Administrator 
of NASA; 
(3) ‘‘adequate-warning’’ refers to a time period 
starting from the time that the near-Earth object is 
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