The specific reason for this hearing is to provide our witnesses with the opportunity to report on the shuttle and the shuttle safety in context of repeated transfers of funds from the shuttle program to the International Space Station. This spring NASA took $190 million out of the Fiscal Year 1997 shuttle budget--and that was over the objections of this Committee, I might add--and this was done to pay for Russian non-performance of the International Space Station. And just last week, the Appropriations Conference Committee on VAHUD, acting at NASA's request, cut another $50 million from the Space Shuttle Program for Fiscal Year 1998 and gave it to the International Space Station. Since most of these funds were going to be spent on upgrades which would improve the shuttle's safety and reliability, it seems self-evident that such cuts will have some impact on safety sooner or later. The only question seems to be, ''How many more times can the cookie jar be raided before we get punished?''