United States Senator Bill Nelson

United States Senator Bill Nelson

OF FLORIDA

United States Senator Bill Nelson (Democratic Party) was born in 1942 in Miami, Florida and served as a captain in the U.S. Army from 1965 to 1971 during some of the hottest years of the Vietnam conflict. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2000 after serving six years in the Florida cabinet. As of November, 2009, Nelson also serves on the Senate Commerce, Armed Services, Budget, Finance, Intelligence and Aging committees and is also recognized as an expert on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). According to his official website, Senator Nelson "has taken on the cause of privacy by supporting measures to protect consumers from identity theft and working on legislation to stop unsolicited e-mails that plague individuals and businesses;" he has also "worked tirelessly for the families of Florida's men and women serving overseas by addressing their concerns about basic equipment needs" and has opposed all efforts to "reduce the military's aircraft carrier fleet as our nation continues to fight the global threat of terrorism" ("U.S. Senator Bill Nelson," Internet).

Some of Senator Nelson's career highlights includes winning federal assistance for cleanup activities after Florida's devastating hurricane season of 2004, arranged a substantial settlement between the Negro League Baseball players and Major League Baseball "to ensure aging former players received compensation for their years of service; created strict criminal penalties "for spammers who send junk e-mail schemes that involve fraud, identity theft, obscenity, child pornography and the sexual exploitation of children" and help to amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act of 2003 to "increase consumer privacy protections by requiring businesses to dispose properly of any client information derived from credit reports" ("U.S. Senator Bill Nelson," Internet).

Since Senator Nelson is considered by many of his senatorial peers as an expert on NASA, one of his most important missions is to guarantee that America's space program remains vital and funded. On October 22, 2009, Senator Nelson met with President Barack Obama who assured him that the space program will receive adequate funding (more than $3 billion dollars) for its future missions to the outer planets of the solar system, especially Mars. As Nelson puts it, "I've asked the president to use money from leftover stimulus funds. . . I've also asked him to help minimize the job losses after the space shuttle is retired, in part, by transferring other NASA-related work to Cape Canaveral" ("U.S. Senator Bill Nelson," Internet). Obviously, since Cape Canaveral is located in Florida, Senator Nelson is attempting to guarantee that the space program continues to help increase the financial coffers of the state, not to mention the creation of many jobs for those with expertise in the space sciences.

In 1986, Senator Nelson became the only member of the U.S. Congress to ever have flown in space and as a result is now a very outspoken advocate for space exploration. In 2001, Senator Nelson stated that the International Space Station is also of great importance, "Not the least of which. . . To support research activities in such diverse fields as biology, biomedical science, space technology, earth science, high-energy physics, and materials and combustion science" ("Statement of Senator Bill Nelson," Internet).