before the House Committee on Appropriations
Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development

and before the Senate Committee on Appropriations
Subcommittee on Energy and Water

March 15, 2005

Mr. Chairman, members of the Committee, thank you for giving me the opportunity to discuss the President’s fiscal year 2006 budget request for the Office of Science, U.S. Department of Energy.

This budget is premised upon the maintenance of U.S. scientific leadership, of increased present and future research opportunities. In order to achieve this goal goal, difficult decisions had to be made within this budget climate, prioritizing core research funding and facility construction and operation. The result augers well for U.S. science and scientists.

Among the more important investments supported by this budget are:

1. Funds for the fabrication of ITER, demonstrating the scientific and technological feasibility of creating and controlling sustained burning plasmas, the penultimate step to a demonstration fusion power plant.

2. Two most powerful civilian leadership class computers of different architectures, 20 TeraFlops each, to test configurations best suited to scientific discovery.

3. Finishing construction, and beginning operations of the Spallation Neutron Source, the most powerful tool for neutron scattering measurements in the world by an order of magnitude.

4. Finishing construction, and beginning operations of four of the five Office of Science Nanoscale Science Research Centers, constructed contiguous to light and neutron sources for characterization of nano-structures and dynamical measurements.

5. Beginning construction of the world’s most powerful X-ray light source, the Linac Coherent Light Source, enabling structural determination of single macro-molecules, and opening the entirely new field of ultra-fast science.

6. Initial operation of Neutrinos at the Main Injector, observing neutrino oscillations with an accuracy never before achieved. Continuation of the Fermilab Tevatron Collider, the world’s highest energy accelerator, and the SLAC B-factory, to explain the origin of mass, and illuminate the pathway to the underlying simplicity of the universe. Ramp up of support for the CERN Large Hadron Collider, at which the U.S. is a major partner in the research program.

7. Continuation of the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility for study of the quark-gluon structure of the nucleon; and the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider for the study of the quark-gluon state of matter at high density and temperature, exhibiting the properties of a highly correlated liquid.

8. Acceleration of microbe-based biotechnical solutions for clean energy, carbon sequestration, and environmental remediation through GTL.

9. Elucidation of the role of clouds, and the development, testing, and running of prediction models for climate change. Study of the global carbon cycle and basic research for biological sequestration of carbon in the biosphere.

10. Continuation of the reduction in scientific uncertainty surrounding the effects of low dose radiation on human biology with the goal of promulgating sensible standards for radiation protection.

This budget enables this breathtaking array of scientific initiatives and opportunities. There are costs, working within the current budget climate. But they are balanced against the opportunities essential for continued U.S. scientific primacy.

The Office of Science manages long-term, high-risk, high-payoff programs aligned with DOE missions, supporting the research of approximately 23,500 graduate students, post docs, and faculty. Our facilities are used by more than 19,000 researchers each year. We are the primary source of support for physical science research in the U.S., providing 42% of federal funding.

The Office of Science is committed to providing basic research support for the missions of the Department of Energy, leading to energy security for our country. Our programs contribute substantially to our nation’s economic development; to enhancing scientific literacy, and to our society’s intellectual growth and excitement through scientific discovery.

Mr. Chairman, I believe this budget will accomplish these goals. I would like to thank you again for the opportunity to discuss the work of the Office of Science, and would be pleased to answer your questions.