[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 148 (Tuesday, December 5, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11562-S11563]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY'S OFFICE OF SCIENCE

  Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I rise today to address the importance 
of the Department of Energy's Office of Science, the nation's leading 
source for fundamental research in the physical sciences for the areas 
of physics, chemistry, and materials science, and a significant 
contributor to the biological sciences. Besides funding the individual 
researcher, the Office of Science leads our nation in providing 
specialized large user R&D facilities. A partial list of such 
facilities would include the Stanford Linear Accelerator, the Center 
for the Microanalysis of Materials at the University of Illinois, The 
Los Alamos Neutron Science Center, the High Flux Isotope Reactor at Oak 
Ridge, the high energy accelerators at the Fermilab and the National 
Synchrotron Light Source at the Brookhaven National Laboratory. These 
user facilities are national treasures. One cannot over emphasize their 
importance. They are used by not only university researchers from all 
50 states but by industry in both the biological and physical sciences. 
In 1999, there were 5500 users on just the large light sources alone to 
investigate new structures of matter in both the biological and 
physical sciences. In the last four years, the number of biological 
researchers using these facilities has risen by a factor of four and 
now accounts for 40 percent of all users. Each of these 5500 
investigations on just the light sources alone generates new 
intellectual property--a dominant export in the 21st century global 
economy. In short, these facilities provide the critical basic R&D that 
industry cannot and will not fund directly, R&D that is crucial to 
maintaining the tremendous technological engine of growth that fuels 
our economy today.
  I would like to point out that in the 106th Congress there was a 
large and successful bipartisan campaign in both the House and Senate 
to support the Office of Science's budget request for Fiscal Year 2001. 
However, the Office of Science's 2001 budget request only met the level 
of its 1990 budget as adjusted in year 2000 dollars. In comparison the 
overall federal R&D budget for the life sciences has increased by 45 
percent in the same period. The trends in the neglect of funding for 
the Office of Science are deeply disturbing and are now beginning to 
influence the basic indicators of intellectual property generation. If 
one tracks the submissions by U.S. researchers in some of our most 
prestigious physics journals you'll find that in 1990 the United States 
commanded the lead of submissions at about 50 percent worldwide. In 
1999 the submission rate has dropped to about 25 percent worldwide. The 
momentum at a national level in the physical sciences is one of 
decline. We should be disturbed by this trend--the physical sciences 
are the foundation of the microchip industry, the telecommunications 
industry, the transportation industry and the petrochemical industry. 
We are talking about what fuels our engine of U.S. economic growth--
high technology and maintaining a commanding lead in a 21st century 
global economy.
  As the 107th Congress gets ready to start, we must pay more attention 
to the Office of Science and the role that it plays as a generator of a 
high tech workforce, intellectual property and economic growth. The 
Office can play an important role in large multi-user facilities for 
the development of nanomaterials by developing techniques that can 
literally position groups of atoms to develop a whole new generation of 
microchip and structural materials. Leadership in such materials 
research will help maintain our world dominance in the 
telecommunications and transportation industries. Yesterday a 
bipartisan group of this body sent to the President a letter supporting 
a significant increase in the budget of the Office of Science in fiscal 
year 2002. This letter follows up on the support that these members 
expressed earlier this year during the appropriation process and 
presages a commitment of bipartisan support for the Office of Science 
in the 107th Congress. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that this 
letter be printed in the Record following my statement.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  (See Exhibit 1.)

[[Page S11563]]

  Mr. BINGAMAN. Regardless of the final outcome of the Presidential 
election, it is my hope that both sides of the aisle will be able to 
come together next year on a strategy for the continued technological 
and economic competitiveness of the United States. I hope that support 
for the work funded by the Office of Science will be the cornerstone of 
that strategy.

                               Exhibit 1


                                         United States Senate,

                                                   Washington, DC.
     The President,
     The White House,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. President: Thank you for joining us in providing 
     strong support for the Department of Energy's Office of 
     Science in this year's appropriation process. Together we 
     have made great progress in advancing recognition of these 
     critical scientific programs. Yet there remains much more 
     that can be accomplished. Continued growth for these programs 
     on par with that proposed for the National Institutes of 
     Health (NIH) and National Science Foundation (NSF) is vital 
     to continued advances in the fields DOE supports and to the 
     training of future scientists and engineers to continue the 
     tremendous advances that America brings to basic science and 
     to the marketplace.
       You are aware that the Department of Energy (DOE) is the 
     leading source of federal support for the physical sciences 
     in the nation. In the life sciences, the DOE initiated the 
     Human Genome Program and co-manages this enormously important 
     and promising effort with the National Institutes of Health. 
     It also plays a leading role in supporting other biological 
     sciences, environmental sciences, physics, chemistry, 
     materials science, computer science, mathematics, and 
     engineering. As a consequence, the DOE is responsible for a 
     significant portion of federal R&D funding for scientists and 
     students at our colleges and universities.
       One of the primary responsibilities of DOE's Office of 
     Science is to support large-scale specialized user facilities 
     and large teams of scientists focused on national scientific 
     priorities. This makes the Office of Science unique among, 
     and complementary to, the scientific programs of other 
     federal science agencies, including NIH and NSF. Each year 
     over 15,000 sponsored scientists and students from academe, 
     industry, and government--many funded by agencies other than 
     the DOE--conduct cutting edge experiments at the Department's 
     research facilities. DOE's investments in major facilities, 
     smaller-scale user facilities, and in university-based 
     laboratories not only sets it apart from other federal 
     science agencies, but helps ensure that the nation maintains 
     its world leadership across a broad range of scientific 
     disciplines.
       Economic experts maintain that today's unprecedented 
     economic growth would not have been realized but for the 
     substantial research investments by the public and private 
     sectors over the past several decades. To maintain the 
     tremendous advances that America brings to basic scientific 
     research and into the marketplace, we need to continue to 
     provide strong support for basic research across the 
     scientific disciplines. Sound science policy also demands a 
     balance between support of individual investigator driven 
     science--such as that conducted by the NIH and NSF--and the 
     maintenance and operation of major facilities, smaller 
     specialized facilities, university based research facilities, 
     and scientific teams such as those supported by DOE's Office 
     of Science.
       The appropriation of $3.19 billion for FY 2001 is only a 
     start at addressing these challenges. Annual increases 
     similar to NIH and NSF are needed and merited by the 
     important and unique work being conducted by the DOE Office 
     of Science. They would also build on the spirit of the 
     Senate's passage of the Federal Research Investment Act (S. 
     296) which calls for doubling investment in civilian research 
     and development efforts.
       Support for increases in funding for the DOE Office of 
     Science is critical if we are to attract and retain the best 
     minds, support the construction and operation of modern 
     scientific facilities, and continue to capitalize on the 
     scientific vision that has been the trademark of the Office 
     of Science for so many years. The budget request for FY 2002 
     is the logical place to continue this effort. We trust you 
     agree and look forward to strengthening our scientific and 
     technological capabilities in FY 2002 and beyond.
           Sincerely,
         Jeff Bingaman, Blanche L. Lincoln, Ron Wyden, Carl Levin, 
           John F. Kerry, Frank H. Murkowski, Mike DeWine, Patrick 
           Leahy, Ted Kennedy, Slade Gorton, Evan Bayh, Daniel K. 
           Akaka, Paul Sarbanes, Herb Kohl, Patty Murray, John 
           Edwards, Frank R. Lautenberg, John Breaux, Diane 
           Feinstein, Barbara Boxer, Bill Frist, Fred Thompson.

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