[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 4]
[House]
[Pages 5988-5989]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      RECENT EVIDENCE OF INFLATION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Foster) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FOSTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to take note of a recent 
scientific discovery, a result which, if confirmed and understood in 
its full theoretical context, has the potential to change the way we 
think about the beginnings of the universe.
  Before coming to Congress, I was a high-energy particle physicist and 
a particle accelerator designer at Fermi National Accelerator 
Laboratory for over 20 years. While I sometimes miss being back in the 
lab, I am very pleased when I have the opportunity to advocate in 
Congress for scientific research and development.
  Twice in my life, I have had the privilege of participating in a 
fundamental breakthrough in science. The first was during my Ph.D. 
thesis work when we observed a subatomic process, known as proton 
decay--which was confidently predicted by many, if not most, of the 
theoretical physicists at the time--was, in fact, not happening.
  The second time was at Fermilab, when I was part of the team that 
discovered the top quark, which is the heaviest known form of matter 
and, quite possibly, the heaviest subatomic particle that will ever be 
discovered--or not.
  So like scientists around the world, my pulse quickened with the 
announcement that the first independent confirming evidence for cosmic 
inflation in the early universe had been discovered.
  Humans have wondered about the origin of the universe for thousands 
of years. Now, thanks to a team of clever and hard-working scientists 
and of Federal investments in basic science, we appear to be an 
important step closer to understanding the birth of the universe.
  Immediately following the big bang, which is the moment at which the 
universe burst into existence, scientists have hypothesized that the 
universe underwent a period known as inflation. During inflation, which 
lasted for only a tiny fraction of a second, the universe expanded at 
an exponential rate.
  Now, the BICEP2 team, which is a collaboration of 12 institutes, 
including universities, the National Science Foundation, and the 
Department of Energy and NASA laboratories, has found direct evidence 
that appears to verify the theory of inflation.
  They were able to study the very first moments of the universe at 
less than a trillionth of a trillionth of a trillionth of a second 
after the big bang, and they were able to obtain direct observational 
evidence of inflation, which, until now, has been mainly based on 
theoretical work.
  To do this, the team constructed a telescope at the National Science 
Foundation's U.S. Antarctic Program's research station at the South 
Pole to observe the cosmic microwave background radiation, a faint glow 
left over from the big bang.
  They observed a pattern in the cosmic background radiation that was 
consistent with being left over from inflation, giving us a glimpse of 
the universe over 13.7 billion years ago. They were able to detect 
this, in large part, because of recent advances in highly sensitive 
detector technology.
  This project was primarily funded by the National Science Foundation, 
and it received generous support from NASA and from the Department of 
Energy, as well as from private industry, and it is an example of the 
importance of Federal funding for basic science research.
  It is also an example of the interplay between technology and basic 
science and of how new technology will lead to even greater advances in 
basic science and vice versa.
  Additionally, study after study has shown that there are few 
investments our government can make that provide as high a return on 
investment as scientific research and development.
  Despite this, Federal investments in research and development are at 
an historic low, comprising merely 3.8 percent of the Federal budget--
or 0.8 percent of the GDP.
  In fact, over the last 3 years, Federal research and development 
expenditures have decreased by 16.3 percent, which is the steepest 
decline over a 3-year period since the end of the space race.
  These results are an important reminder of the value of Federal 
investment in research and development. Without the proper investment 
in scientific research, we must expect fewer of these groundbreaking 
scientific discoveries, at least in the United States.
  The greatest long-term threat that our country faces on both the 
military and economic fronts is the threat of losing our role as world 
leaders in innovation and in science and technology.
  Nothing is more crucial to preserving that role than having adequate 
funding

[[Page 5989]]

for fundamental and applied scientific research. The recent advances in 
cosmology are just one of many examples of the breadth of intellectual 
capital and state-of-the-art technology that the U.S. currently 
possesses.
  As Congress determines how to allocate funding for these agencies in 
the coming year, with many proposing budgets that will cripple future 
investments in education and research, I urge my colleagues to 
capitalize on these discoveries and ensure that we are investing enough 
in research, science, and education.
  Because of Federal investments in science, we have just looked 
significantly farther into the early universe than anyone has done 
before. This not only tells us about the birth of the universe, but it 
also gives us insight into our fundamental understanding of the laws of 
physics.
  This discovery by the BICEP2 team has been globally recognized as one 
of the most important fundamental breakthroughs in science in our 
lifetimes, a landmark of American academic achievement that will live 
on in the science textbooks forever.

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