[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 915 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 915

 To authorize appropriations for fiscal years 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 
and 2008 for the Department of Energy Office of Science, to ensure that 
   the United States is the world leader in key scientific fields by 
 restoring a healthy balance of science funding, to ensure maximum use 
 of the national user facilities, and to secure the Nation's supply of 
        scientists for the 21st century, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 11, 2003

 Mr. Alexander (for himself, Mr. Levin, Mr. Warner, and Mr. Bingaman) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
               Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To authorize appropriations for fiscal years 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 
and 2008 for the Department of Energy Office of Science, to ensure that 
   the United States is the world leader in key scientific fields by 
 restoring a healthy balance of science funding, to ensure maximum use 
 of the national user facilities, and to secure the Nation's supply of 
        scientists for the 21st century, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Energy and Science Research 
Investment Act of 2003''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) the Office of Science of the Department of Energy is 
        the largest Federal sponsor of civilian research in the 
        physical sciences and plays a major role in supporting 
        interdisciplinary research that contributes to other scientific 
        fields, including the life sciences, mathematics, computer 
        science, engineering, and the environmental sciences;
            (2)(A) Department of Energy laboratories have scientific 
        capabilities that are unmatched in typical academic or 
        industrial institutions;
            (B) scientific teams of the laboratories are capable of 
        developing integrated approaches to grand scientific challenges 
        that are often beyond the reach of individual experimenters; 
        and
            (C) the Human Genome Project exemplifies that capability;
            (3) the facilities at the Department of Energy laboratories 
        are invaluable to scientists across disciplines, including 
        those from academia, industry, and government;
            (4)(A) for more than half a century, science research has 
        had an extraordinary impact on the economy, national security, 
        medicine, energy, life sciences, and the environment; and
            (B) in the economic arena, studies show that about half of 
        all United States post-World War II economic growth is a direct 
        result of technological innovation stemming from scientific 
        research;
            (5) the Office of Science programs, in constant dollars, 
        have been flat funded for more than a decade, placing the 
        scientific leadership of the United States in jeopardy and 
        limiting the generation of ideas that will enhance the security 
        of the United States and drive future economic growth;
            (6)(A) because the cost of conducting research increases at 
        a faster rate than the Consumer Price Index, flat funding for 
        the Office of Science has led to a decline in the number of 
        grants awarded, students trained, and scientists supported; and
            (B) flat and erratic funding has also led to an underuse of 
        the facilities that the United States has invested hundreds of 
        millions of dollars to construct; and
            (7) higher funding levels for the Office of Science will 
        provide more opportunities to support graduate students in 
        research at universities in the fields of mathematics, 
        engineering, and the physical sciences, helping to alleviate an 
        increasing over-reliance on foreign talent in these fields.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR SCIENCE PROGRAMS.

    (a) Program Direction.--The Secretary of Energy, acting through the 
Office of Science, shall--
            (1) conduct a comprehensive program of fundamental 
        research, including research on chemical sciences, physics, 
        materials sciences, biological and environmental sciences, 
        geosciences, engineering sciences, plasma sciences, 
        mathematics, and advanced scientific computing;
            (2) maintain, upgrade, and expand the scientific user 
        facilities maintained by the Office of Science and ensure that 
        the facilities are an integral part of the departmental mission 
        for exploring the frontiers of fundamental science;
            (3) maintain a leading-edge research capability in the 
        energy-related aspects of nanoscience and nanotechnology, 
        advanced scientific computing and genome research;
            (4) ensure that the fundamental science programs of the 
        Department of Energy, as appropriate, help inform the applied 
        research and development programs of the Department; and
            (5) ensure that Department of Energy research programs 
        support sufficient numbers of graduate students to maintain the 
        pipeline of scientists and engineers that is critical for the 
        future vitality of Federal laboratories and overall United 
        States science leadership.
    (b) Authorities of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section--
            (1) for fiscal year 2004, $3,785,000,000;
            (2) for fiscal year 2005, $4,153,000,000;
            (3) for fiscal year 2006, $4,586,000,000;
            (4) for fiscal year 2007, $5,000,000,000; and
            (5) for fiscal year 2008, $5,400,000,000.
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