HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 94 Offered January 9, 2008 Prefiled January 7, 2008 Encouraging the Governor of the Commonwealth to initiate a memorandum of agreement with the Governor of Maryland to create a bi-state compact and commission to jointly fund and operate the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS). ---------- Patron-- Cosgrove ---------- Committee Referral Pending ----------

WHEREAS, the State of Maryland and the Commonwealth of Virginia share a common heritage in the development and support of America's aerospace industry; and

WHEREAS, many of the nation's leading federal establishments in aerospace development such as the NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and Wallops Flight Facility (Wallops), NASA'S Langley Research Center, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Patuxent Naval Air Station are located in Maryland and Virginia; and

WHEREAS Maryland and Virginia are centers of university research and development in disciplines such as advanced materials, systems/process engineering, aerospace engineering, telecommunications, and information technology; and

WHEREAS, significant concentrations of aerospace and associated support industries exist within and in close proximity to Virginia and Maryland; and

WHEREAS, the Maryland and Virginia Working Group on Regional Spaceport Implementation published a report in 2004 outlining the need for joint operation and funding of MARS; and

WHEREAS the health and growth of MARS has a favorable economic impact upon both Maryland and Virginia; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the Governor be encouraged to initiate a memorandum of agreement with the Governor of Maryland to create a bi-state compact and commission to jointly fund and operate the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS); and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates transmit a copy of this resolution to the Governor of Maryland.