APS testimony to the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies

Outside Testimony for the Record: Fiscal Year 2026

Submitted to the U.S. House Committee on Appropriations
Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies

Dr. Jonathan A. Bagger, CEO
American Physical Society (APS)

Chairman Fleischmann, Vice Chairman Cloud, and Ranking Member Kaptur, the American Physical Society thanks the subcommittee for the opportunity to provide testimony on the importance of federal funding for the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science. We urge Congress to provide at least $9.5 billion for the Office of Science in Fiscal Year 2026.

Earlier this year, Secretary of Energy Chris Wright confirmed the essential role of federal investment in science when he said, “The global race for AI dominance is the next Manhattan Project, and with President Trump’s leadership and the innovation of our National Labs, the United States can and will win.” For AI, quantum, and all the energy technologies needed to establish “American Energy Dominance,” federal investment must set the pace.

And federal investment it must be. As pointed out in a recent American Enterprise Institute post: “Public funding of basic research creates a pipeline for private sector innovation and commercialization, while also developing human capital through graduate training […] And rather than crowding out private investment, federal R&D spending actually stimulates additional private sector R&D investment.”¹ The federal science agencies support ambitious, fundamental research that private industry alone cannot or will not pursue.

Over decades, Congress built the American scientific enterprise through robust and sustained investments in our federal science agencies. Congress now has the opportunity to strengthen that leadership; it must not let the opportunity pass. Today, the United States is a leader in energy technologies in large part because of research and development (R&D) sponsored by the U.S. DOE, created to ensure our nation’s energy security. Constructed on foundations laid by the Manhattan Project, DOE furthers that ambitious spirit by undertaking long-term, high-risk R&D.²

Within DOE, the Office of Science serves as the engine of innovation for energy sciences. As mandated by Congress, it delivers groundbreaking scientific discoveries and major scientific tools that transform our understanding of nature while advancing the energy, economic, and national security of the United States. For nearly half a century, the Office of Science has revolutionized every aspect of the energy landscape—from generation to transmission to consumption—by harnessing the creativity of America’s R&D workforce. The Office of Science strategically pushes the boundaries of knowledge, engineering, and deployment through four cross-cutting focus areas:³

• Advancing scientific discovery by supporting cutting-edge, investigator-led research at more than 300 universities across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico⁴
• Developing and operating the world’s largest collection of state-of-the-art, large-scale scientific facilities that empower more than 40,000 researchers from 2,400 institutions, including 400 private companies, to advance the best R&D here in the United States^4,5
• Building tomorrow’s energy workforce by inspiring young minds through established programs like the National Science Bowl, training STEM teachers, and actively supporting more than 14,000 early-career researchers nationwide⁴
• Bringing life-changing fundamental research discoveries to market by facilitating energy technology transfer at more than 500 U.S. small businesses⁴

The Office of Science is an essential partner of high-tech industry and a magnet for the world's best science and top scientific talent, delivering a host of transformative discoveries and innovations. It executes its mission through six program areas and ten national labs. As the largest funder of physical sciences research in the U.S., it supports work across the entire energy landscape—from inquiry into the most energetic phenomena in the universe to the development of next-generation battery technology.

• Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) is the brains behind America’s scientific supercomputing power. ASCR leads the world in supercomputing technologies, as exemplified by the development of the first Exascale supercomputer, Frontier, through a decade-long public-private partnership with Hewlett-Packard Enterprise and AMD.⁶
• Basic Energy Sciences (BES) supports research to harness the physical world to benefit people and society. BES-supported science underpins critical technologies with national security implications, including quantum computing. The program’s research unlocks new chemistry and materials that improve our daily lives. For example, modern lithium-ion batteries—that power everything from smartphones and laptops to ebikes and cars⁷—are a direct result of BES-sponsored research.
• Biological and Environmental Research (BER) investigates the biological and environmental systems that shape our planet and human health. It supports climate modeling, bioenergy, and the understanding of ecosystems and microbes to tackle challenges like improving agriculture and making energy technologies more efficient. It also played a key role in the Human Genome Project,⁸ fueling biotech and medical advances.
• Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) supports fundamental plasma science and engineering research. FES-supported research has, for example, led to tools and techniques accounting for nearly half of all process steps needed to manufacture semiconductor devices.⁹ FES also funds promising approaches for harnessing nuclear fusion, making sure that our country leads in this transformative technology that could reshape the global energy landscape.¹⁰
• High Energy Physics (HEP) supports research to answer the biggest and most fundamental questions in the universe. Technologies developed for HEP research have fueled innovation in advanced computing, imaging, medicine, and national security. HEP-supported accelerator technologies enabled the development of the modern free-electron X-ray laser, allowing us to image both advanced materials and the inner structure of biological matter, revolutionizing the development of medical treatments.¹¹
• Nuclear Physics (NP) research deepens our understanding of atomic nuclei. NP-developed technologies are vital for nuclear security, radioisotope production, and cancer diagnosis and therapy. This work strengthens defense capabilities and drives health and technology breakthroughs.¹²

These six interconnected programs sustain America’s leadership in energy in an increasingly competitive global landscape. And without sustained and robust funding for each of these Office of Science programs, our leadership will be in jeopardy.

Does America choose to lead in energy technologies? Do we choose to see AI developed in an open, democratic nation, or by nations that don’t share those values? Do we choose to ensure our national security and be the first to unlock quantum computing, cryptography, and communications? Do we choose to see future energy technologies discovered and developed here?

The answer to all those questions must be an emphatic “yes.” The path to U.S. leadership in science, technology, and innovation lies in unleashing the creativity and ambition of America’s energy researchers and entrepreneurs. And the DOE Office of Science must continue to empower its partners in academia, national labs, and private companies.

Federal funding provided by the Department of Energy reaches all fifty states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories, supporting people and research infrastructure, along with local economies. To highlight just a few examples, in fiscal year 2023 (the most recently available data), higher education institutions in Tennessee received $75 million, those in Texas received $168 million, and those in Ohio received $63 million.¹³

In states with national labs, the local economy benefits immensely. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), for example, generated more than $7 billion in economic benefits and supported, directly and indirectly, nearly 43,000 full-time local jobs. ORNL and its contractors procured approximately $940 million in various goods and services from Tennessee businesses in 2020.¹⁴

America invented that ecosystem of discovery and reaped huge economic benefits. But today, unlike decades prior, other nations know it as well. They know that our federally funded fundamental research has provided our nation exceptional returns—estimated to be 150 to 300 percent since World War II.¹⁵

As you read this, competitor nations are investing in research into key technology areas where the DOE Office of Science has, until now, led the way: advanced materials, fusion energy, superconductivity, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing.^16,17 With that threat of competition, the federal government must sustain strong funding across all Office of Science programs to ensure that breakthroughs—and the economic benefits that follow—happen here.

Choosing a future of leadership, security, and energy dominance requires the House Appropriations Committee—and in particular the Energy and Water Subcommittee—to allocate at least $9.5 billion for the DOE Office of Science for fiscal year 2026. With Congress’ support, the physics community stands ready to work with the Office of Science and its partners to secure our nation’s energy future. APS and its more than 50,000 members in universities, industries, and national laboratories across all fifty states thank you for the opportunity to submit testimony.

References

1. American Enterprise Institute. (2025, January 28). Federal R&D Funding Is Even More Valuable Than Washington Thinks. https://www.aei.org/economics/federal-rd-funding-is-even-more-valuable-than-washington-thinks/
2. U.S. Department of Energy. (consulted 2025, May 15). A brief history of the Department of Energy. https://www.energy.gov/lm/brief-history-department-energy
3. U.S. Department of Energy. (consulted 2025, May 15). Office of Science. https://www.energy.gov/science/office-science
4. U.S. Department of Energy. (consulted 2025, May 15). Office of Science by the numbers. https://www.energy.gov/science/office-science-numbers
5. Office of Science, U.S. Department of Energy. (consulted 2025, May 15). User statistics data archive. https://science.osti.gov/User-Facilities/User-Statistics/Data-Archive
6. U.S. Department of Energy. (consulted 2025, May 15). Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR). https://www.energy.gov/science/ascr/advanced-scientific-computing-research
7. U.S. Department of Energy. (consulted 2025, May 15). Charging up development of lithium-ion batteries. https://www.energy.gov/science/articles/charging-development-lithium-ion-batteries
8. U.S. Department of Energy. (consulted 2025, May 15). DOE Explains...Genomics. https://www.energy.gov/science/doe-explainsgenomics
9. U.S. Department of Energy. (2023, January). Report on Science Challenges and Research Opportunities for Plasma Applications in Microelectronics. https://mipse.umich.edu/files/DOE_FES_PlasmaScience_Semiconductors_v27.pdf
10. U.S. Department of Energy. (consulted 2025, May 15). Fusion Energy Sciences (FES). https://www.energy.gov/science/fes/fusion-energy-sciences
11. SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. (consulted 2025, May 15). Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS). https://lcls.slac.stanford.edu/
12. U.S. Department of Energy. (consulted 2025, May 15). Nuclear Physics (NP). https://www.energy.gov/science/np/nuclear-physics
13. Dallas Federal Reserve. (2023). The Role of U.S. Research in Driving Innovation and Economic Growth [Working paper]. https://www.dallasfed.org/~/media/documents/research/papers/2023/wp2305.pdf
14. Center for Strategic and International Studies. (2025, Feb 3). A quick take on quantum technology and global competition. https://www.csis.org/blogs/perspectives-innovation/quick-take-quantum-technology-global-competition
15. Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI. (2025). AI Index Report 2025. https://hai.stanford.edu/ai-index/2025-ai-index-report
16. East Tennessee Economic Council. (consulted 2025, May 15). DOE Economic Impact Studies. https://www.eteconline.org/doe-economic-impact-studies-2/
17. American Physical Society. (2024). Federal Research Enterprise Visualizer. https://lookerstudio.google.com/u/0/reporting/c8f21d37-3620-427e-8622-144f0f563dc2/page/p_sta6fr07bd