GEMINI AND APOl L( > Igl 



After his return from Cape Kennedy, Chairman Teague would not 

 let the matter rest there. On June 10, 1964, he wrote the following 

 letter to Adm. Arleigh A. Burke and other members of the Critical 

 Issues Council: 



Recent newspaper articles quoted members of the Critical Issues Council as stating 

 that "our space exploration is too vast, too hazardous, too costly and too important 

 to all mankind to he financed by one country alone." On behalf of the Manned Space 

 Flight Subcommittee, I wish to invite you to appear before that subcommittee and 

 present any evidence which you have that would support this statement. 



The subcommittee would be pleased to convene at your convenience to discuss 

 further your views. 



In addition to Admiral Burke, Teague's June 10 letter was also 

 sent to James H. Douglas in Chicago, Dr. T. Keith Glennan (the first 

 Administrator of NASA) in Cleveland, Lewis L. Strauss in Washing- 

 ton, and Gen. Lauris Norstad (retired) in New York. There is no record 

 that either Mr. Douglas or Dr. Glennan ever replied formally. 



Admiral Burke and General Norstad both called attention to 

 Dr. Eisenhower's June 2 response to Chairman Teague and indicated 

 their agreement with that response. General Norstad added: "I, 

 myself, can claim no particular competence in this field . ' ' Lewis Strauss, 

 a former member of the Atomic Energy Commission, deplored the fact 

 that more attention was not being paid to the military aspects of space, 

 and stated: "I believe that the only basis upon which our current 

 large expenditure of funds can be justified is national defense." 



Since none of the combatants wanted to come out and fight, 

 Teague had called their hand successfully. But the phrase "too vast, 

 too hazardous, too costly, and too important to all mankind to be 

 financed by one country alone" stuck in Teague's craw for many years 

 after 1964. In fact, as long as Teague was associated with the space 

 program, he never forgot it. 



For example, during the floor debate on the NASA authorization 

 bill on May 2, 1968, Teague made this observation: 



Mr. Chairman, if the pioneers who settled this country and made it great had 

 been modern-day Republicans, they would never have crossed the Ohio River. The 

 Pacific Ocean would be still an unconfirmed rumor and any attempt to reach the mani- 

 fest destiny of America could have been a project too vast, too hazardous, too costly, 

 and too important to undertake. 



BIPARTISAN SUPPORT FOR MANNED SPACE FLIGHT 



Despite the brief scuffle in 1964 with the Critical Issues Council, 

 the work of the Manned Space Flight Subcommittee — and, in fact, 

 the full committee also — remained essentially bipartisan. Even on 

 issues where the Republicans on the committee took the lead, like 

 opposition to the Electronics Research Center, there was also sub- 

 stantial Democratic cooperation. 



