H.R. 6219 · 118th Congress

ASCEND Act

Introduced on Nov 3, 2023 by Thomas H. Kean, Jr. (R-NJ-7). 2 cosponsors, 1 of them from another party. Latest action (Sep 24, 2024): Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Stage
Passed one chamber
Introduced
Nov 3, 2023
Cosponsors
2
1 from the other party
Policy area
Science, Technology, Communications
Open in the Congress explorerCongress.govAlert me

Progress

The furthest stage the measure reached. Simple and concurrent resolutions do not go to the President.

  1. Introduced
  2. Reported by committee
  3. Passed one chamber
  4. 4Passed both chambers
  5. 5Sent to the President
  6. 6Became law

Official title

To require the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to establish a program to identify, evaluate, acquire, and disseminate commercial Earth remote sensing data and imagery in order to satisfy the scientific, operational, and educational requirements of the Administration, and for other purposes.

Subjects

  • Congressional oversight
  • Earth sciences
  • Photography and imaging
  • Space flight and exploration
  • Spacecraft and satellites

Summary

The Congressional Research Service has not summarized this measure yet.

Sponsor and cosponsors

Cosponsors by party as of the day they signed on. Original cosponsors signed on the day of introduction.

Thomas H. Kean, Jr.R-NJ-7Sponsor

Democrats · 1

Republicans · 1

Roll calls

Recorded votes on the measure. Most measures move by voice vote or unanimous consent, which record no individual positions.

No recorded roll call on this measure: it moved by voice vote or unanimous consent, or has not reached the floor.

History

Every action as published, oldest first. Roll calls link to how each member voted.

  1. Nov 3, 2023Introduced in House
  2. Nov 3, 2023Introduced in House
  3. Nov 3, 2023 · HouseReferred to the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.
  4. Mar 20, 2024 · HouseCommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
  5. Mar 20, 2024 · HouseOrdered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 37 - 0.
  6. Jul 23, 2024Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. H. Rept. 118-603.
  7. Jul 23, 2024 · HouseReported (Amended) by the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. H. Rept. 118-603.
  8. Jul 23, 2024 · HousePlaced on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 502.
  9. Sep 23, 2024 · HouseMr. Lucas moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
  10. Sep 23, 2024 · HouseConsidered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H5623-5625)
  11. Sep 23, 2024 · HouseDEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 6219.
  12. Sep 23, 2024Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H5623-5624)
  13. Sep 23, 2024 · HouseOn motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H5623-5624)
  14. Sep 23, 2024 · HouseMotion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  15. Sep 24, 2024 · SenateReceived in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Committees

Committees and subcommittees the measure was referred to.

Agencies in its committees' jurisdiction

Analisa's mapping of committee jurisdiction to federal agencies; the bill may touch others, or none of these.

Who lobbied on it

Organizations whose lobbying reports (LD-2) name this measure. Spending is what they reported for those quarters on all issues, not on this measure alone.

  1. Planet Labs PBC4 reports
    $830K reported (all issues)Federal contractor: PLANET LABS INC.AI match · 100%
  2. Tomorrow.io4 reports
    $120K reported (all issues)Federal contractor: THE TOMORROW COMPANIES INC.$17.5M in contracts, FY2026AI match · 95%
  3. COMMERCIAL SPACEFLIGHT FEDERATION3 reports
    $120K reported (all issues)
  4. Planet Labs PBC (Formerly Planet Labs Federal Inc.)3 reports
    $140K reported (all issues)Federal contractor: PLANET LABS FEDERAL, INC.$8.5M in contracts, FY2026AI match · 100%
  5. Maxar Intelligence (formerly known as Maxar Technologies Holdings Inc.)2 reports
    $410K reported (all issues)
  6. Maxar Technologies Holdings, Inc.2 reports
    $470K reported (all issues)
  7. Maxar Intelligence1 report
    $210K reported (all issues)

Reports filed in 2023, 2024.

Sources and method

Every figure on this page traces to these records.

  • Bill status: bills and resolutions, sponsors, actions, subjects and CRS summaries (U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), from Congress.gov (Library of Congress))GovInfo Bill Status bulk data (Congress.gov; summaries by the Congressional Research Service) · data current to Oct 7, 2026 · loaded Oct 7, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Members of Congress, their terms, committees and identifiers (The @unitedstates project (from the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, the House and the Senate))unitedstates/congress-legislators: legislators, committees and current committee membership · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)
  • House roll-call votes (Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, roll-call vote records · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Senate roll-call votes and DW-NOMINATE scores (Voteview (UCLA Department of Political Science))Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/ · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Free to use with the required citation
  • Lobbying disclosures (LD-1 registrations, LD-2 quarterly reports, LD-203 contribution reports) (Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives)Clerk of the House, Lobbying Disclosure Act filings (organizations only; lobbyists' names are not loaded) · data current to Oct 7, 2026 · loaded Oct 7, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Positions are shown only where a roll call recorded them; voice votes and unanimous consent record none.
  • Money and votes are shown side by side; neither explains the other.