May I have the first nomination, please?
http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/the-u-s-russia-fight-has-entered-space-20140402
emphasis added
April 2, 2014
NASA confirmed the suspension of high level contact with the Russian government officials in a statement Wednesday night.
"Given Russia's ongoing violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, NASA is suspending the majority of its ongoing engagements with the Russian Federation," a spokesman said. Operations aboard the International Space Station, which is a wholly collaborative effort between the two nations, are exempt from this suspension.
Just last week, a trio of astronauts, including two Russians and one American, launched into space on a Russian rocket, headed for the International Space Station. Without a shuttle program of its own, NASA depends on Russians to ferry its astronauts to and from the station, and pays them $70.7 million per seat. The U.S. space agency is working with private American companies to develop rockets and break out of Russia's transportation monopoly.
"NASA is laser-focused on a plan to return human spaceflight launches to American soil, and end our reliance on Russia to get into space," Wednesday night's statement read. "This has been a top priority of the Obama Administration's for the past five years, and had our plan been fully funded, we would have returned American human spaceflight launches—and the jobs they support—back to the United States next year."
http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/the-u-s-russia-fight-has-entered-space-20140402
emphasis added