To authorize appropriations for fiscal years 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 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 use of the national user facilities, and to secure the Nation's supply of scientists for the 21st century, and for other purposes.

April 11, 2003

Mr. ALEXANDER (for himself, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. WARNER, and Mr. BINGAMAN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

To authorize appropriations for fiscal years 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 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 use of the national user facilities, and to secure the Nation's supply of scientists for the 21st 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 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Energy and Science Research Investment Act of 2003'.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress finds that--

(1) the Office of Science of the Department of Energy is the largest Federal sponsor of civilian research in the physical sciences and plays a major role in supporting interdisciplinary research that contributes to other scientific fields, including the life sciences, mathematics, computer science, engineering, and the environmental sciences;

(2)(A) Department of Energy laboratories have scientific capabilities that are unmatched in typical academic or industrial institutions;

(B) scientific teams of the laboratories are capable of developing integrated approaches to grand scientific challenges that are often beyond the reach of individual experimenters; and

(C) the Human Genome Project exemplifies that capability;

(3) the facilities at the Department of Energy laboratories are invaluable to scientists across disciplines, including those from academia, industry, and government;

(4)(A) for more than half a century, science research has had an extraordinary impact on the economy, national security, medicine, energy, life sciences, and the environment; and

(B) in the economic arena, studies show that about half of all United States post-World War II economic growth is a direct result of technological innovation stemming from scientific research;

(5) the Office of Science programs, in constant dollars, have been flat funded for more than a decade, placing the scientific leadership of the United States in jeopardy and limiting the generation of ideas that will enhance the security of the United States and drive future economic growth;

(6)(A) because the cost of conducting research increases at a faster rate than the Consumer Price Index, flat funding for the Office of Science has led to a decline in the number of grants awarded, students trained, and scientists supported; and

(B) flat and erratic funding has also led to an underuse of the facilities that the United States has invested hundreds of millions of dollars to construct; and

(7) higher funding levels for the Office of Science will provide more opportunities to support graduate students in research at universities in the fields of mathematics, engineering, and the physical sciences, helping to alleviate an increasing over-reliance on foreign talent in these fields.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR SCIENCE PROGRAMS.

(a) PROGRAM DIRECTION- The Secretary of Energy, acting through the Office of Science, shall--

(1) 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;

(2) maintain, upgrade, and expand the scientific user facilities maintained by the Office of Science and ensure that the facilities are an integral part of the departmental mission for exploring the frontiers of fundamental science;

(3) maintain a leading-edge research capability in the energy-related aspects of nanoscience and nanotechnology, advanced scientific computing and genome research;

(4) ensure that the fundamental science programs of the Department of Energy, as appropriate, help inform the applied research and development programs of the Department; and

(5) ensure that Department of Energy research programs support sufficient numbers of graduate students to maintain the pipeline of scientists and engineers that is critical for the future vitality of Federal laboratories and overall United States science leadership.

(b) AUTHORITIES OF APPROPRIATIONS- There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section--

(1) for fiscal year 2004, $3,785,000,000;

(2) for fiscal year 2005, $4,153,000,000;

(3) for fiscal year 2006, $4,586,000,000;

(4) for fiscal year 2007, $5,000,000,000; and

(5) for fiscal year 2008, $5,400,000,000.

END