The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday (Feb. 13, 2018) passed without opposition the Accelerating American Leadership in Science Act, H.R. 4377.

The bipartisan legislation, introduced by U.S. Rep. Randy Hultgren (IL-14) authorizes world-class scientific research at Fermilab, Argonne and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

“The Accelerating American Leadership in Science Act will ensure America remains the destination for world’s top researchers to explore the outer reaches of our scientific knowledge,” Hultgren said. “The Department of Energy’s Office of Science operates and maintains this large-scale research infrastructure which is beyond the capacity of a single university or business. The world is working to catch up and replicate our success, which is why we need to reaffirm American leadership in fields that improve lives and increase domestic jobs.”

The Accelerating American Leadership in Science Act:

• Supports the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility which will host the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, an international project hosted by Fermilab to probe the fundamental properties of subatomic particles known as neutrinos.

The project already has the support of nearly 1,000 scientists from 30 different countries, the European physics facility CERN has committed to contributions for the first time going outside of their lab, and the United Kingdom recently pledged $88 million to be a part of the project.

The facility will contribute to nearly 2,000 jobs at Fermilab.

CREDIT: www.aps.anl.gov/

• Upgrades to the Advance Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory are authorized in this legislation to maintain its world leadership status as the premier x-ray science facility.

APS is used by nearly 6,000 researchers every year, with more than 1,000 users from Illinois. The wide ranging applications of this facility have led to two Nobel prizes in Chemistry, treatments for HIV and improvements in advanced manufacturing.

•  Upgrades at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Spallation Neutron Source help probe material properties at the atomic level with the most intense pulsed neutron beam in the world.

The Department of Energy’s Basic Energy Science Advisory Committee called these upgrades “absolutely central to contribute to world leading science.”

SOURCE: Rep. Randy Hultgren news release