Kosmas praised President Obama's December 2009 announcement to add 30,000 troops to and set a deadline for the war in Afghanistan.

NASA

One of Kosmas' top priorities was space exploration, an economic engine in her district. After the Obama administration unveiled in January 2010 an additional $5.9 billion for the space program over five years, announcing plans for commercial spaceflights to replace plans to return to the moon, Kosmas denounced the decision. "The president's proposal would leave NASA with essentially no program and no timeline for exploration beyond Earth's orbit," she said in a statement.

In that statement, Kosmas also described herself as a "strong supporter of commercial spaceflight," but with uncertainty over the vision of the next-generation vehicles, she called to "safely extend" the shuttle program scheduled to be phased out.

Kosmas tried to minimize the lag time between the end of the shuttle program and the use of the planned next-generation Constellation spacecrafts.

In April 2009, Kosmas voted against the House budget resolution on grounds that it didn't give NASA the flexibility to fly shuttles beyond 2010. She and Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) added a $2.5 billion provision to the budget that would allow NASA to fly the shuttles through 2011.

Health-Care Reform

Kosmas was one of a handful of House Democrats who voted against House Democrats health-care reform bill in November 2009, but favored the compromise enacted in March 2010. Kosmas said she favored the March bill because it addressed some of her concerns about the deficit and about the impact the new law would have on small businesses.

In a letter to Florida Today, she explained that while she was supportive of measures like coverage for those with pre-existing conditions, eliminating lifetime caps and lowering premiums, the legislation didn't "rein in spending on care." She said the cost of the $1.2 trillion bill would increase spending over the long term, unlike Senate proposals that sought a decrease.

The Economy

In December 2009, Kosmas was one of 26 House Democrats who voted against a proposal to keep an inheritance tax on estates valued at more than $3.5 million.

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