[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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