Schumer Announces Key Senate Panel Backs Increased Funding For Brookhaven National Laboratory
Senator Aggressively Lobbied Senate Appropriations Committee To Include Funding In Spending Bill
Schumer: Brookhaven National Laboratory is Vitally Important for the Community and Local Economy
US Senator Charles E. Schumer today announced that the Senate Appropriations Committee approved $18 million for the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and $36.5 million for the Center for Functional Nanomaterials at Brookhaven National Laboratory in the FY06 Energy and Water Appropriations Committee Report. The bill must now be approved by the full Senate before being sent to a House and Senate Conference Committee and eventually being signed into law. Schumer had aggressively lobbied members of the Appropriations Committee to include funding for the project in this years spending bill.
This is great news for the Brookhaven Laboratory, said Schumer. This funding lets Brookhaven to continue its national reputation as a leading scientific research institution, while remaining a vital part of New Yorks economy.
The Energy and Water Appropriations Report included $18 million for the RHIC, which is the worlds nuclear physics facility. The Presidents Fiscal Year 2006 Budget called for a $12.8 million cut below the fiscal year 2005 level in this important program at Brookhaven National Labs in Long Island, NY. RHIC is a frontier research facility and its contributions to the nations nuclear physics program are at their zenith. The Presidents request level for the RHIC program was set at $117.9 million, which is almost $13 million less than last years level. In order to maintain research productivity, current and future R&D investment, and the status as the worlds nuclear physics facility, Sen. Schumer was successful in increasing the overall amount by $18 million to reach a level of $135.9 million for FY06.
Funding was also included for the Center for Functional Nanomaterials at Brookhaven National Lab in the Energy and Water Appropriations Report. $36.5 million in funding was included for the Center for Functional Nanomaterials, the same as the Presidents budget request, which will allow the Department of Energy to carry out construction activities at the Center, which is scheduled to be completed in 2008.
The Energy and Water Appropriations Report was passed by the Appropriations Committee today and now heads to the floor for a full vote before the Senate. A vote is expected this summer, and after final passage a conference committee will reconcile the differences between the House and Senate versions of the Energy and Water Appropriations Bill before sending it to the President to become law.
