[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 120 (Wednesday, July 24, 2024)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E760-E761]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 
                                  2025

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                     HON. ROBERT C. ``BOBBY'' SCOTT

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 23, 2024

  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of my 
amendments to H.R. 8997, the Energy and Water Development and Related 
Agencies Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2025.
  These two amendments support essential funding for our National Labs 
and specifically for the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility, 
or CEBAF, at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, 
commonly known as JLab, in Newport News, Virginia. CEBAF is a world-
leading facility studying the inner properties of nuclei, such as the 
quark and gluon structure of protons and neutrons. The research 
conducted at this facility has vastly improved our understanding of the 
fundamental make-up of matter and is actively supporting collaborative 
research globally in medium energy physics.
  The first amendment highlights the need for funding critically needed 
infrastructure improvements at CEBAF. The workforce at JLab is rapidly 
growing with the increased use of CEBAF and the installation of the 
Department of Energy's High Performance Data Facility. For JLab to 
effectively support its employees and researchers, the lab needs 
increased funding to build a modern workspace to match the research 
conducted at this facility. The final appropriations bill should 
include $32 million for JLab to update its CEBAF infrastructure.
  The second amendment highlights the importance of an optimal runtime 
for CEBAF.

[[Page E761]]

Currently, numerous PhD students and researchers are waiting to use the 
facility for experiments, and the backlog continues to grow as more 
scientists hope to use this critical technology. The funding in the 
underlying bill only allows CEBAF to operate 29 weeks of the year, but 
to meet the research needs and to optimize the use of this facility, 
CEBAF requires an additional $10 million to operate for an optimal 
runtime of 34 weeks. An appropriation of $160 million for CEBAF 
operations should be included in the final legislation.
  I would like to thank my colleague, Congressman Rob Wittman, for 
cosponsoring these amendments that draw attention to the need for 
additional funding to spur innovation, create jobs, and facilitate 
incredible discovery. I urge my colleagues to support these amendments.

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