results search thomas library of congress hr ih th congress d session h r to authorize appropriations for fiscal years and for the department of energy office of science to ensure that the united states is the world leader in key scientific fields by restoring a healthy balance of science funding to ensure maximum utilization of the national user facilities and to secure the nation~s supply of scientists for the st century and for other purposes in the house of representatives july mrs biggert for herself mr ehlers mrs tauscher ms woolsey mr grucci mr holt mr honda mr wamp mr johnson of illinois mr andrews mr calvert mr houghton mr hastings of washington mr rush mr capuano and mr boswell introduced the following bill which was referred to the committee on science a bill to authorize appropriations for fiscal years and for the department of energy office of science to ensure that the united states is the world leader in key scientific fields by restoring a healthy balance of science funding to ensure maximum utilization of the national user facilities and to secure the nation~s supply of scientists for the st century and for other purposes be it enacted by the senate and house of representatives of the united states of america in congress assembled section short title this act may be cited as the energy and science research investment act of sec findings congress makes the following findings the department of energy office of science is the nation~s primary supporter of the physical sciences providing an important partner and key user facilities in the areas of biological or life sciences physics chemistry environmental sciences mathematics computer science and engineering more specifically the office of science is the steward and principal funding agency of the nation~s research programs in high energy physics nuclear physics and fusion energy sciences and is the federal government~s single largest funder of materials and chemical sciences it also manages programs of fundamental research in basic energy sciences biological and environmental sciences and computational science all of which support the department~s other mission in environmental restoration defense and energy security the office of science also supports unique or critical pieces of united states research in climate change geophysics genomics and the life sciences the department of energy office of science supports a unique system of programs based on large scale specialized user facilities and large interdisciplinary teams of scientists focused on national priorities in scientific research this federal research and development funding goes to scientists and students not just at our national labs but at our colleges and universities as well the office of science allocates almost percent of its budget to university based research with states receiving funding this makes the office of science unique among and complementary to the scientific programs of many other federal science agencies including the national institutes of health and the national science foundation while investments in these agencies have increased for the most part these increases have not gone to support physical science and engineering according to the national research council in constant dollars the federal investment in the physical and engineering sciences has stagnated for the last years the budget for the department of energy office of science is still only at its level during that same year period the federal investment in medical and life sciences has more than tripled according to the national science foundation and american association for the advancement of science the growing imbalance between biomedical fields and physical sciences and engineering research in the united states investment portfolio will hamper the vital connections and reliance among fields of science according to a report entitled road map for national security imperative for change by the united states commission on national security in the st century the u s government has seriously underfunded basic scientific research in recent years the quality of the u s education system too has fallen well behind those of scores of other nations the inadequacies of our systems of research and education pose a greater threat to u s national security over the next quarter century than any potential conventional war that we might imagine the national laboratories and research universities have a demonstrated ability to form interdisciplinary teams capable of addressing national crises such as the current threat of biological
chemical and nuclear terrorism department of energy research in the physical sciences and engineering has produced the knowledge that enabled major medical breakthroughs and technological advances such as diagnostic x rays ultrasounds pet scans and mri~s basic research initiated by the department of energy office of science in culminated in the publication of a complete draft of the human genome sequence in february this breakthrough holds the promise of deepening the understanding of fundamental life processes and then treatment and cures of disease future medical advances and technological breakthroughs will continue to rely heavily upon the critical disciplines of science and engineering supported by the department of energy many of the energy and environmental technologies that we take for granted today have come from department of energy science programs basic energy research funded by the department of energy office of science will help address current and future energy challenges with technologies that improve the efficiency economy environmental acceptability and safety in energy generation conversion transmission and use for example basic energy research at the department of energy is largely responsible for continued reductions in carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels as well as from substantial improvements in the efficiency and affordability of solar wind biomass conversion and other renewable energy sources department of energy basic energy research is also playing a central role in helping to create new technologies such as fuel cells which will eliminate harmful automobile emissions our future economic strength will be strongly tied to the cost and availability of energy fully half the growth of the united states economy in the last years was due to the federal investment in scientific and technological innovation much of which flowed from our nation~s research universities and national laboratories computers the internet fiber optics communications equipment and technology consumer electronics defense technologies global positioning systems and catalytic converters are but a few examples of the contributions of the physical sciences to the overall strength of our economy the office of science has prime responsibility for developing constructing and operating some of the nation~s most advanced research and development facilities located at national laboratories and universities these national research facilities including the synchrotron light sources neutron sources and high energy and heavy ion accelerators are used annually by more than researchers from universities other government agencies and private industry from across the country and around the world users of the facilities include academic scientists sponsored by many federal agencies among them the department of defense the national aeronautics and space administration the national institutes of health the national institute of standards and technology and the national science foundation as well as the department of energy itself despite long queues of experiments many of the department~s facilities often operate at less than full capacity because of operating budget strictures furthermore reductions in facilities research and development budgets are now jeopardizing the development of the next generation of accelerators upon which many areas of science depend the council on competitiveness projects that the number of jobs requiring technical skills will grow by more than percent over a year period ending in and the department of energy estimates that almost percent of its science and technology managers will be eligible for retirement in the next years by contrast and reflecting constrained research budgets university enrollment in the physical sciences has shrunk by more than percent during the last decade and graduate programs have come to rely heavily on foreign students with non united states citizens now accounting for more than percent of ph d recipients in most fields however during the period to according to the national science board foreign enrollment in the physical sciences has fallen by percent the department of energy office of science plays a critical role in supplying the scientific workforce of the future each year it supports more than students and post doctoral investigators who eventually enter industry academia or government laboratories the national laboratories also provide internships for undergraduates in universities and community colleges who represent the base of the next generation
of the nation~s scientific workforce current appropriation levels allow the office of science to fund only percent of the unsolicited peer reviewed proposals it receives annually by contrast the national science foundation is able to fund percent of the proposals it receives from a similar applicant pool increased allocations would enable the office of science to take advantage of scientific opportunities in key spheres central to the mission of the department of energy these include homeland security particularly in the area of sensing and tracking of biological chemical and radiological weapons advanced energy technologies among them fusion and hydrogen climate science especially investigations requiring complex computer simulations the search for dark energy multidisciplinary biotechnology highlighted by the genomes to life program the expansion of nanoscale research especially where advances rely on department~s strength of interdisciplinary programming upgrades of existing synchrotron light sources particularly for structural biology and materials research accelerator research and development especially for the development of the next generation of x ray light sources and the linear collider project and environmental science particularly the application of bioremediation to toxic sites added budget capability would also allow the department to expand its graduate fellowship program and its laboratory internship program that are vital to developing the technical workforce of the st century budgetary constraints restricted have the development and construction of new scientific facilities one of the central missions of the office of science the list of proposed construction projects that have already undergone significant scientific study has grown considerably it includes the linear coherent light source lcls the rare isotope accelerator ria the national compact stellerator experiment ncsx the upgrade of the continuous electron beam accelerator facility cebaf the high energy physics linear collider project the super nova acceleration probe snap and the international thermonuclear experimental reactor iter deferred maintenance has also created a backlog of infrastructure construction projects at many of the department~s laboratories title i office of science authorization sec authorization of appropriations a program direction the secretary of energy acting through the office of science shall conduct a comprehensive program of fundamental research including research on chemical sciences physics materials sciences biological and environmental sciences geosciences engineering sciences plasma sciences mathematics and advanced scientific computing maintain upgrade and expand the scientific user facilities maintained by the office of science and ensure that they are an integral part of the departmental mission for exploring the frontiers of fundamental science maintain a leading edge research capability in the energy related aspects of nanoscience and nanotechnology advanced scientific computing and genome research and ensure that its fundamental science programs where appropriate help inform the applied research and development programs of the department b fiscal year in general there are authorized to be appropriated to the office of science for fiscal year specific allocations the amount authorized under paragraph shall be allocated as follows a general research activities including university programs facilities operations national laboratory programs accelerator research and development workforce development construction carryovers from years prior to fiscal year and program administration b initiatives consistent with interagency guidance among them nanoscience centers advanced complex simulation computing and genomes to life centers c new construction b fiscal year in general there are authorized to be appropriated to the office of science for fiscal year specific allocations the amount authorized under paragraph shall be allocated as follows a general research activities including university programs facilities operations national laboratory programs accelerator research and development workforce development construction carryovers from years prior to fiscal year and program administration b initiatives consistent with interagency guidance among them nanoscience centers advanced complex simulation computing and genomes to life centers c new construction c fiscal year in general there are authorized to be appropriated to the office of science for fiscal year specific allocations the
amount authorized under paragraph shall be allocated as follows a general research activities including university programs facilities operations national laboratory programs accelerator research and development workforce development construction carryovers from years prior to fiscal year and program administration b initiatives consistent with interagency guidance among them nanoscience centers advanced complex simulation computing and genomes to life centers c new construction d fiscal year in general there are authorized to be appropriated to the office of science for fiscal year specific allocations the amount authorized under paragraph shall be allocated as follows a general research activities including university programs facilities operations national laboratory programs accelerator research and development workforce development construction carryovers from years prior to fiscal year and program administration b initiatives consistent with interagency guidance among them nanoscience centers advanced complex simulation computing and genomes to life centers c new construction sec reporting not later than days after the date of enactment of legislation providing for the annual appropriation of funds for the office of science the director of the office of science henceforth referred to as the assistant secretary of science in accordance with section b of this act shall submit to the committee on science of the house of representatives and the committee on energy and natural resources of the senate a plan for the allocation of funds authorized by this act for the corresponding fiscal year the plan shall include a description of how the allocation of funding will affect trends in research support for major fields and subfields of the physical sciences mathematics and engineering including emerging multidisciplinary areas affect the utilization of the department~s facilities address the workforce needs by field of science mathematics and engineering and ensure that research in the physical sciences mathematics and engineering is adequate to address important research opportunities in these fields title ii science management sec improved coordination and management of civilian science and technology programs a effective top level coordination of research and development programs section b of the department of energy organization act u s c b is amended to read as follows b there shall be in the department an under secretary for energy research and science who shall be appointed by the president by and with the advice and consent of the senate the under secretary shall be compensated at the rate provided for at level iii of the executive schedule under section of title united states code the under secretary for energy research and science shall be appointed from among persons who a have extensive background in scientific or engineering fields and b are well qualified to manage the civilian research and development programs of the department of energy the under secretary for energy research and science shall a serve as the science and technology advisor to the secretary b monitor the department~s research and development programs in order to advise the secretary with respect to any undesirable duplication or gaps in such programs c advise the secretary with respect to the well being and management of the science laboratories under the juris...