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Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Office of Fusion Act. This bipartisan piece of legislation would establish an Office of Fusion at the Department of Energy to advance fusion energy, in partnership with the private sector, to accelerate research, development, demonstration, deployment, and market adoption of fusion technologies.

Fusion has the potential to harness the power of the Sun--to manufacture near limitless energy for our homes, our economy, and our future. It is also a carbon-free source of power that can reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and save the planet. My home State of California is home to more fusion companies than any other country in the world, and it is the energy of the future.

The Lawrence Livermore National Lab in California has achieved ignition over five times, which highlights the exciting progress and potential of these technologies. We need to capitalize on this momentum to ensure that the United States remains the leader in fusion energy. This office will ensure that there are concentrated efforts to continue advancing this energy source.

As we have heard this administration talk about repeatedly, energy dominance is one of their top priorities. To achieve this goal, we need to continue investing in fusion technologies to ensure that we can scale up these technologies to reach commercialization.

I want to thank my good friend and colleague Senator Cornyn for leading this effort with me, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass this necessary piece of legislation. ______

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