61.4 F
Clarksville
Thursday, March 28, 2024
HomePoliticsLamar Alexander says Senate Proposes Sixth Year of Record Funding for 17...

Lamar Alexander says Senate Proposes Sixth Year of Record Funding for 17 National Laboratories, Seventh Year of Record Funding for Locks, Dams, Harbors

U.S. SenateMaryville, TN – The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee today unveiled legislation sponsored by subcommittee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) that includes the sixth consecutive year of record funding for the Office of Science – the most important U.S. Department of Energy program that supports work at our 17 national laboratories, including Oak Ridge National Laboratory. 

The Senate bill also prioritizes funding for supercomputing and advanced nuclear programs and provides the seventh consecutive year of record funding for the Corps of Engineers.

U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander
U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander

“I proposed a New Manhattan Project for Clean Energy last March – a five year project with Ten Grand Challenges that will use American research and technology to put our country and the world firmly on a path toward cleaner, cheaper energy.

To provide the tools to create these breakthroughs, the federal government should double its funding for energy research and reinstate the United States as number one in the world in advanced computing.

That is why setting a new record funding level for the Office of Science – the nation’s largest supporter of research in the physical sciences – is one of my top priorities,” Subcommittee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said.  

“This sixth consecutive year of record level funding for the Office of Science allows us to take advantage of the United States’ secret weapon, our extraordinary capacity for basic research at our 17 national laboratories and will help build and develop the next generation of supercomputers.”

“This bill also includes $7.722 billion – a new record funding level in a regular appropriations bill – for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to maintain and rebuild our nation’s waterways, including up to $69 million to fully fund construction at Chickamauga Lock for the seventh consecutive year,” Alexander said. “This is great news for East Tennessee since the new lock will help keep up to 150,000 trucks off I-75 and keep the cost of shipping goods low for manufacturers across the state.”

Alexander continued: “The funding provided in this bill will also modernize our nuclear weapons facilities at Y-12 and accelerate cleanup of hazardous materials and facilities at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Y-12 National Security Complex. 

Alexander is chairman of the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee, which oversees the U.S. Department of Energy; the Army Corps of Engineers; the Nuclear Regulatory Commission; the National Nuclear Security Administration; the Appalachian Regional Commission; and the Bureau of Reclamation.

Today, the Senate Appropriations Committee unveiled the Fiscal Year 2021 Energy and Water Development Appropriations bill.

 

 

The Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2021 includes the following priorities:

  • The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science, which supports basic science and energy research and is the nation’s largest supporter of research in the physical sciences, is funded at $7.026 billion, a new record funding level.
  • The bill includes $7.722 billion for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – a record funding level in a regular appropriations bill.
  • For the seventh consecutive year, the bill makes full use of the Inland Waterways Trust Fund revenues for water infrastructure projects, including up to $69 million to continue construction of Chickamauga Lock in Chattanooga.
  • The legislation includes $2.163 million for dredging at Memphis Harbor McKellar Lake.
  • The bill includes funding that exceeds the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF) spending target established by the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014.  This is the seventh consecutive year the bill has met or exceeded the HTMF spending targets. 
  • The bill includes $430 million, a record funding level, for the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E), which was created by the 2007 America COMPETES Act to invest in high-impact energy technologies.
  • The bill includes $1.79 billion for high performance computing, including $1.029 billion within the Office of Science and $761 million within the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).
    • It also includes $230 million for the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility, an increase of $5 million above last year.
  • The bill includes $729 million from the Office of Science and the NNSA to support the delivery of Exascale systems beginning in 2021 and to continue U.S. leadership in this critical area. 

 

 

  • The bill includes a total of $19.82 billion for the National Nuclear Security Administration, including $2.66 billion for our nuclear weapons stockpile modernization and one new program.  These programs ensure our weapons systems continue to be safe and reliable.
  • The Uranium Processing Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex is funded at $750 million, which will continue to keep this project on time and on budget, with a completion year of 2025 at a cost no greater than $6.5 billion.   
  • The legislation includes a pilot program to allow consolidated nuclear waste storage, which has been supported by Senator Alexander and Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) over the past six years. It also provides funding for the Department of Energy to support storing nuclear waste at private facilities.
  • The bill includes $280 million for the Advanced Reactors Demonstration Program to continue to support development of new technologies for the next generation of nuclear power plants.
  • The bill includes $47 million for research and development to support existing nuclear reactors, and $30 million for the Transformational Challenge Reactor.
  • The bill advances efforts to clean up hazardous materials at Cold War-era sites. The bill includes $7.53 billion to support cleanup efforts, which is $1.5 billion above the president’s budget request.  Included in this amount is $610 million for cleanup at the East Tennessee Technology Park, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Y-12 National Security Complex.
  • The bill also continues to fund the regional commissions, including $180 million for the Appalachian Regional Commission and $30 million for the Delta Regional Authority.
RELATED ARTICLES

Latest Articles