Does the US Air Force "Rocket Cargo" project have any notable proponents in Congress?

Question

CNBC's June 4, 2021 article The Pentagon wants to use private rockets like SpaceX’s Starship to deliver cargo around the world says:

The U.S. Air Force said Friday is expanding a small development program that wants to leverage reusable rockets, like those SpaceX is building, to deliver cargo quickly to anywhere in the world.

Called Rocket Cargo, the experimental military program will be led by the U.S. Space Force, the Pentagon said. The program will research and help develop capabilities such as landing “a rocket on a wide range of non-traditional materials and surfaces,” engineering “a rocket cargo bay and logistics for rapid loading and unloading” and air-dropping “cargo from the rocket after re-entry in order to service locations where a rocket or aircraft cannot possibly land.”

The Air Force’s 2022 budget proposal requested almost $50 million for Rocket Cargo to continue the study concept work it began last year with small contracts to SpaceX and Exploration Architecture Corporation (XArc).

Question: Does the US Air Force "Rocket Cargo" project have any notable proponents in Congress?

Is the project still too small to have any political aspects, or are there politicians helping to keep this item in the budget?

("bonus points" for help finding out if the budget for this project was approved.)

Answer 1

Q: Does the US Air Force "Rocket Cargo" project have any notable proponents in Congress?

None that I could find.

Q: Is the project still too small to have any political aspects, or are there politicians helping to keep this item in the budget?

The Senate Armed Service Committee, in S. Rept. 117-39, recommended elimination of the budget for "rocket cargo".

The committee is concerned about the shift in emphasis of Department of Air Force research activities from support of early stage research that explores the frontiers of scientific knowledge to create next generation capabilities, to a more near-term focus that heavily emphasizes near-term delivery of mature systems.

...

Therefore, the committee recommends a reduction of $77.9 million in RDAF for PE 63032F (sic), of which $47.9 million is for a reduction in rocket cargo efforts, and recommends that the Air Force review its science and technology portfolio to ensure adequate balance between near and long term efforts.

However, the Senate bill associated with S. Rept. 117-39 was never considered. Instead, the House used a Senate bill that had passed by unanimous consent, amended that bill by replacing the text and renaming the bill. The amended bill was returned to the Senate and passed. Thus the funding for "rocket cargo" was preserved.

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Of historical note, the House of Representatives, on May 23, 1962, debated "Authorizing Appropriations to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration" (CR 9049, PDF page 11).

Rep. Olin Teague (D-TX), raised the idea of "rocket cargo" twice.

Fourth, the scientific fallout from our space program is already incalculable. The benefits that we expect to get from our weather satellites, our communication satellites. our navigational satellites, from future techniques such as rocket cargoes and from space-related products developed for everyday living-these are here today and they will be greater tomorrow. (CR 9064, PDF page 26)

In the near future, when guidance devices permit soft landing, rocket cargo and passenger transport will become feasible. Mail may become almost as swift as telephone. (CR 9066, PDF page 28)

See, Congressional Record.