Congress and BES

Congressional Foundations of the BES Program

Congress established the Basic Energy Sciences (BES) program through the following authorization legislations:

•	Atomic Energy Act of 1946	Public Law 79-585	August 1, 1946	42 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
•	Atomic Energy Act of 1954	Public Law 83-703	August 30, 1954	42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.
•	Energy Reorganization Act of 1974	Public Law 93-438	October 11, 1974	42 U.S.C. 5801 et seq.
•	DOE Organization Act of 1977	Public Law 95-91	August 4, 1977	42 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.
•	Energy Policy Act of 1992	Public Law 102-486	October 24, 1992	42 U.S.C. 134 et seq.
•	Energy Policy Act of 2005	Public Law 109-58	August 8, 2005	HR 6 HRpt 109-190

For example, the basic research and user facilities responsibilities of BES are clearly set forth in Section 2203 of the Energy Policy Act of 1992. These laws created and promulgated the BES program, and annual appropriation laws provide funding and guidance for the program's activities. In the Congressional budget process, the BES program is governed by the four Congressional Committees shown in the table below. Each Committee contains a subcommittee that specifically considers the BES portion of the President's Budget Request. Details regarding these legislative processes are available in "How Our Laws are Made" and "Enactment of a Law."

More information about Congress and how to contact its members can be found by visiting the House and Senate web pages or by connecting to other internet resources* such as Congress Merge, Congress.Org, or Contacting the Congress. For example, to obtain the names of your specific representatives and how to write to them, just type your zip code in here!

To hunt for additional legislative information on the internet, visit the Library of Congress' Thomas server.