Durbin and Bipartisan Group of Senators Request More Funding for Fermilab and Argonne

March 17, 2008 -- [WASHINGTON, DC] – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) was joined by a bipartisan group of Senators in sending a letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee requesting an additional $350 million for critical science programs administered by the Department of Energy’s Office of Science and the National Science Foundation which would ensure that both Fermilab and Argonne National Laboratory as well as other scientific facilities are able to continue their research and retain staff.

Durbin and other members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation have engaged in discussions with Congressional appropriations and authorization committees and the Department of Energy to address the current funding situation at the labs. Additional funding this fiscal year will ensure that ongoing research can continue at on neutrinos, the high energy frontier, and particle astrophysics. Adequate funding for the labs is critical to ensure that our country maintains its technological edge and that we continue to add to our high-tech manufacturing base.

Fermilab is the nation’s premier high-energy physics laboratory. The laboratory leads U.S. research into the fundamental nature of matter and energy, and in 2007, Fermilab’s researchers and facilities achieved results judged by the American Institute of Physics as among the Ten Top Physics Stories from around the world. Argonne National Laboratory is one of the U.S. Department of Energy's largest research centers. It is also the nation's first national laboratory which houses basic and applied scientific research across a wide spectrum of disciplines, ranging from high-energy physics to climatology and biotechnology.

Other members signing on to the letter included Senators Pete Domenici (R-NM), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY).

Text of the letter appears below:

March 12, 2008

The Honorable Robert C. Byrd
Chairman
Senate Committee on Appropriations
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Thad Cochran
Ranking Member
Senate Committee on Appropriation
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Chairman Byrd and Ranking Member Cochran:

We are writing to request that an additional $350 million in emergency funding be included in the Fiscal Year 2008 supplemental appropriations bill for critical science programs administered by the Department of Energy's Office of Science and the National Science Foundation (NSF). We anticipate there will be a strong push by the Administration and others for a supplemental appropriations bill that focuses funding solely on the troops, and we understand that desire. However, should the Committee choose to include additional funding, this emergency funding is needed to support our critically important scientific workforce, avoid cost increases to our major scientific projects, and fulfill commitments to the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (TER) Project.

Specifically, we ask that $250 million be allocated for the Office of Science, and $100 million be allocated to the National Science Foundation. The $250 million for the Office of Science will help keep our commitments to the ITER Project, ensure that we retain Fermi Laboratory as our nation's premier high physics facility, and provide the funding necessary to ensure that other major Department of Energy facilities in California, Illinois, New Mexico, New York, Tennessee, and Virginia can continue to meet our nation's scientific needs. The $1 00 million for NSF would provide additional graduate fellowships and research grants at our nation's universities, while helping maintain new initiatives in supercomputing and high-speed networking.

ITER is a multinational scientific project and has been one of the Office of Science's top priorities for the last several years. The President's proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2008 included $160 million for the project. It is imperative that Congress appropriate supplemental funding for ITER as soon as possible to keep our commitments to our international partners, keep this important project on track, and avoid losses in scientific talent among U.S.-based employees working on ITER.

The Office of Science and the National Science Foundation are key elements of the bipartisan America COMPETES Act, which passed Congress overwhelmingly last year. The funds requested in this letter will help restore the broad policy outlines in that bill to ensure our nation remains competitive in our global economy. We recognize the pressure you face to minimize the size of supplemental appropriations bills in the face competing budgetary priorities. However, we strongly believe that it is necessary to provide critically needed research funding immediately to avoid unintended and permanent damage to our critical scientific infrastructure and our standing in the world as the leader in science.

Sincerely,
Dick Durbin
U.S. Senator

Source: Senator Dick Durbin

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