February 18, 1997
(Revised from February 17, 1997 version)

FPN97-6R Fusion Program Notes

House Appropriations Subcommittee Testimony

The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy And Water Development is the key committee in Congress that has been determining the level of fusion funding. They will receive public testimony from DOE Director of Energy Research Martha Krebs on March 13 in Room 2362 of the House Rayburn Building (phone 202-225-3421 for exact time, but arrive early if you expect to get in).

The Subcommittee will not be holding a hearing for members of the public this year, but has indicated that it will acccept written testimony that will become part of the record, if that testimony is received by March 18. Testimony should not exceed 5 pages in length and contain no figures. To ensure that your statement gets into the public record you must send a letter (or better fax to 202-225-3598) stating that you would like to submit testimony for the record on the DOE FY1998 budget request for fusion to:

The Honorable Joseph M. McDade, Chairman
Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development
2362 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

The committee staff will then send you a letter with instructions on submitting testimony for the record. Unfortunately this does not guarantee that it will be read by any member of the Subcommittee, nor even necessarily by staff. Consequently, I recommend that you also send an abbreviated version of your statement, in letter form, to your own Congressperson and ask that he/she make your views known to Rep. McDade or to another member of the Subcommittee. Of course, if you can arrange a personal visit with your Representative or a member of the Subcommittee, so much the better. As a minimum, I suggest that you call the office of your Representative, ask to speak to the aide that handles energy R&D issues, and discuss your concerns with that person.

The members of the Subcommittee are: Joe McDade (R-PA), Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ), Harold Rogers (R-KY), Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), Mike Parker (R-MI), Sonny Callahan (R-AL), Jay Dickey (R-AR), Vic Fazio (D-CA), Peter Viscloskey (D-IN), Chet Edwards (D-TX), and Ed Pastor (D-AZ).

You can get addresses, phone numbers, etc., of any member of the House of Representatives, on the Web at http://www.house.gov/ and then click on Who's Who to get to the "Whoswho.html" file. A similar format also works for the Senate. See FPN97-2R for a list of key Representatives and Senators.

For more information, contact: Stephen O. Dean