Department of Energy Science and Innovation Act of 2018

Floor Speech

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Mr. WEBER of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5905) to authorize basic research programs in the Department of Energy Office of Science for fiscal years 2018 and 2019, as amended.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

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Mr. WEBER of Texas. 5905, the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5905, the Department of Energy Science and Innovation Act of 2018.

This legislation authorizes the Department of Energy's Office of Science programs for fiscal years 2018 and 2019. It also authorizes upgrades and new construction of major user facilities at the Department of Energy national labs and universities.

Over the past 4 years, the Energy Subcommittee has met with stakeholders, held hearings, and worked extensively with our colleagues to draft the language included in today's legislation. During this comprehensive process, we spoke with DOE officials, directors of DOE national labs, academia, and industry representatives about the right priorities for these Office of Science programs. The result was a series of bills that the Science, Space, and Technology Committee has advanced through the House this Congress, including H.R. 589, H.R. 4376, H.R. 4377, and H.R. 4675.

The legislation we will consider today combines these bills to form a bipartisan authorization of the department's basic science research. This includes more than $6 billion in fundamental research and discovery science, largely performed at DOE national laboratories and user facilities around the country.

Last month, I had the opportunity to visit a number of these facilities at Argonne National Laboratory and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory with several of my Science, Space, and Technology Committee colleagues. We got to see firsthand the incredible work that those researchers do for our country and for the world.

From advanced scientific computing to nuclear physics to fusion energy science, focusing on basic research at our national labs provides the best opportunity for U.S. economic growth and technology innovation.

H.R. 5905 authorizes funding for critical infrastructure projects at these national labs. In the Basic Energy Sciences program, it authorizes upgrades to world-leading X-ray light source facilities around the country, like the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory and the Advanced Light Source at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

These facilities give American scientists the tools they need to study the structure and behavior of both physical and biological materials, enabling innovation in many fields, including creating new materials for industrial as well as pharmaceutical use.

This legislation also authorizes the construction of new DOE research facilities for physics and high-energy physics. This includes construction of the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, or FRIB, at Michigan State University, which will enable critical nuclear physics research across a wide breadth of fields, ranging from astrophysics to medicine, and eventually the construction of the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility at Fermilab, an internationally coordinated project to build the world's highest intensity neutrino beam. The research at this facility will help shed light on the universe and its origins.

This bill, Mr. Speaker, also specifically authorizes basic research in fields that are critical to U.S. dominance in science and technology. It authorizes research in exascale computing, electricity storage, and fusion energy sciences. It establishes a DOE exascale computing program, a low-dose radiation research program, and programs for managing our Energy Frontier Research Centers and Bioenergy Research Centers, while also ensuring that we fulfill our commitments to the ITER project for fiscal years 2018 and 2019.

Significant investments in basic science research by foreign countries like China threaten America's global standing as the leader in scientific knowledge. To maintain our competitive advantage as a world leader in science, we must continue to support the research and research infrastructure that will lead to next generation technologies.

H.R. 5905 is a commonsense bill that will maintain American leadership in science. I want to thank Chairman Smith, Representative Lofgren, Vice Chairman Lucas, and many of my Science, Space, and Technology Committee colleagues for cosponsoring this important legislation. I am grateful for the opportunity to work with the members of this committee to gather research that will help America compete around the world.

Mr. Speaker, by harnessing the strength of our national labs and investing in basic research, H.R. 5905 will help ensure Americans' leadership in science and technology.

Mr. Speaker, I again want to thank my 11 colleagues on the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology who have cosponsored H.R. 5905, including Chairman Lamar Smith, Representative Zoe Lofgren, and Vice Chairman Frank Lucas. I also want to thank the dozens of researchers and stakeholders who provided feedback as we developed this legislation.

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Mr. WEBER of Texas. Mr. Speaker, this is great legislation. Again, I want to urge the adoption of this commonsense, bipartisan legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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