Eighty-Five members of the House of Representatives indicated their strong support for the U.S. Fusion Program in a letter sent to the Chair and Ranking Minority Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water. This is three more than signed a similar letter last year (FPN98-13). The text of the letter is provided below. If your Representative signed the letter, please send him/her a thank you letter. If not, let your conscience be your guide.
Dear Chairman Packard and Ranking Member Visclosky:
We are writing to thank you for your strong support of fusion energy science research in the past and to request that your Subcommittee provide the funding necessary to implement a new, broader program which is responsive to direction from your subcommittee.
Fusion research is one of the best examples of a government program that has a clearly defined and sorely needed end product - - a fundamentally new source of energy - - and at the same time advances basic scientific research. As an extra benefit, the inherently difficult nature of the fusion challenge continues to produce important spinoffs in other scientific fields, and provides important technological benefits to society.
As you know, fusion energy science funding fell 40 percent between FY 1995 to FY 1997, from approximately $370 million to $225 million. Since that time, the budget has remained essentially level, except for the inflation that continues to erode the program's effective buying power. Despite these declines, fusion researchers have made significant progress towards the eventual realization of this essential energy source of the future. Now, in response to substantial progress in fusion science as well as to Congressional direction, the fusion community is working together to develop a plan for reaching the goal of practical fusion energy while at the same time maximizing the scientific and technological benefit to the nation. This plan will be inclusive of all potentially viable fusion concepts and will rely heavily on a thorough peer review process to select the best combination of findings at each stage for further development. It will also leverage for energy purposes the substantial investment in inertial fusion made by DOE's defense programs and the substantial investment made by other nations in magnetic fusion.
Implementing this broader fusion energy science program will require an increase in the fusion budget to levels approaching, though not reaching, those of several years ago. As a step in this direction, we ask that your Subcommittee appropriate no less than $250 million for fusion energy science research in FY 2000, plus the additional $10 million required for the decommissioning of the TFTR facility. While funding at this level is significantly below the program's $370 million of just four years ago, it will allow the program to expand into new and innovative avenues of research while also ensuring improved utilization of existing experimental facilities.
Thank you again for your past support of this program and for your attention to this request.
Sincerely,
(reproduced below in alphabetical order by State)
Bud Cramer D AL Howard Berman D CA Brian Bilbray R CA George Brown D CA Ken Calvert R CA Tom Campbell R CA Lois Capps D CA Gary Condit D CA Duke Cunningham R CA Julian Dixon R CA Calvin Dooley D CA David Dreier R CA Anna Eshoo D CA Bob Filner D CA Duncan Hunter R CA Steven Kuykendall R CA Tom Lantos D CA Barbara Lee D CA Zoe Lofgren D CA Matthew Martinez D CA Bob Matsui D CA Buck McKeon R CA Gary Miller R CA Grace Napolitano D CA Richard Pombo R CA James Rogan R CA Loretta Sanchez D CA Ellen Tauscher D CA Lynn Woolsey D CA Diana DeGette D CO Scott McInnis R CO Mark Udall D CO Charlie Norwood R GA Mike Simpson R ID Ray LaHood R IL Jerry Weller R IL Tim Roemer D IN Michael Capuano D MA William Delahunt D MA Barney Frank D MA Martin Meehan D MA Joseph Moakley D MA Richard Neal D MA John Olver D MA Roscoe Bartlett R MD Banjamin Cardin D MD Bob Ehrlich R MD Steny Hoyer D MD Connie Morella R MD Rob Andrews R NJ Bob Franks R NJ Rodney Frelinghuysen R NJ Rush Holt D NJ Frank LoBiondo R NJ Robert Menendez D NJ Frank Pallone D NJ William Pascrell D NJ Donald Payne D NJ Steve Rothman D NJ Marge Roukema R NJ Jim Saxton R NJ Lamar Smith R NJ Gary Ackerman D NY Sherwood Boehlert R NY Maurice Hinchey D NY Anthony Weiner D NY Mike Doyle R PA Jim Greenwood R PA Ron Klink D PA John Peterson R PA Curt Weldon R PA John Spratt D SC John Duncan R TN Bart Gordon D TN Kevin Brady D TX Lloyd Doggett D TX Charles Gonzalez D TX Ralph Hall D TX Eddie Bernice Johnson D TX Pete Sessions R TX Lamar Smith R TX Tom Davis R VA Owen Pickett D VA Tammy Baldwin D WI Jerry Kleczka D WI