Rep. Bill Foster Calls For Increased Federal Support For Ongoing Scientific Research

Washington, DC – Building upon his testimony to the House Budget Committee calling for renewed investment in funding for research and development, Congressman Bill Foster submitted a request to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development asking for strong federal support for our nation’s scientific infrastructure and ongoing scientific research.

Read the full text here.

In the request, Foster calls for:

• Increased support for research in High Energy Physics (HEP), including the Long Baseline Neutrino Experiment, to help support ongoing experiments at Fermilab, which has been the target of budget cuts.
• Funding for the Advanced Scientific Computing Research which will enable Argonne to deploy the next generation of supercomputers in 2016-2017.
• An emphasis on investments in advanced reactor technologies under the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy.
• Strong funding for the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) that will provide the support needed to develop the next generation of energy efficient and environmentally friendly highway transportation technologies.
• The Appropriations Committee to meet the President’s request for Basic Energy Sciences (BES) within the DOE Office of Science. The BES program provides funding for a variety of projects at Argonne National Laboratory, including the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research and the Advanced Photon Source.

“As a scientist and businessman, I believe that these requests will help to sustain our commitment to excellence in scientific research and support the kind of innovation that is the core of our country’s economic success,” said Foster. “Now more than ever, we need these kinds of investments to maintain America’s competitive advantage.”