Roskam defends scientific research cuts

Congressman Peter Roskam says cuts included in a $1.2 trillion budget passed last month in the U.S. House will ensure future job creation and help the country get out of its financial hole.

“We're broke and we're borrowing 41 cents for every dollar we spend so the status quo in Washington clearly doesn't work,” the Wheaton Republican said. “(This) is why House Republicans are taking important steps to remove the barriers to private-sector job creation by cutting spending.”

Roskam said the $61 billion in cuts included in the bill were difficult to make. However, he also defended them as a way to look toward the future.

“These cuts aren't easy,” Roskam said. “But they are necessary for America's ability to create jobs long term and for future generations' well being.”

On Monday, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin toured Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont, one of two research labs in the area that would be severely affected by the proposed cuts. The cuts include $2 billion to scientific research.

Durbin criticized the cuts, saying they went “too far, too fast” and it seemed Republicans were in a hurry to take credit for cutting the deficit rather than making “thoughtful” cuts.”

As the fate of its federal funding hangs in the balance, officials at Argonne and Fermilab in Batavia have gone on the offensive. Less than a week after sending a letter to news outlets about the expected effects of the spending bill, the directors of the two labs on Monday welcomed Durbin to Argonne.

During the hourlong tour, Argonne Director Eric Isaacs said losing the federal funding will stop innovation at the facility.

“We are talking about inventions in future science,” he said. “Not disrupting investment is critical to our ability to do what we do.”

Companies from across the country send personnel or research to the labs, which are equipped with the advanced technology needed to push that research forward.

Durbin said the cuts in scientific research would devastate U.S. efforts in the technology race.

In the short term, however, the cuts would mean about 1,450 layoffs at the two research facilities, including about 1,000 at Argonne.

Additionally, a forced temporary shutdown would push companies to move their research operations overseas, Isaacs said.

During the tour, Durbin met some of the researchers, including a professor from Penn State University and a chemist from Eli Lilly and Co., a global pharmaceutical company that conducts research on X-rays and photons at Argonne.

Among the companies that have used Argonne or Fermilab are DuPont, GE Research and 3M. In the past, the facility has been an essential part of the development of battery technology that has led to the development of the Chevy Volt, the first mass-produced, plug-in hybrid car.

One researcher told Durbin the facility is critical in moving research on solar energy forward.

“To make solar energy, we need to develop the technology that makes it viable,” said Seth Darling, a scientist at the lab's Center for Nanoscale Materials. “There is an opportunity for us to be a leader in this.”

Stephen Wasserman, a chemist with Eli Lilly, said if Argonne loses its funding, the company would have to rethink where it does its work and would have to look into other countries.

“This is the best way to do these types of experiments,” said Stephen Wasserman, a chemist with the company. “It can't be done anywhere else in the U.S. There is no equivalent elsewhere. Any alternatives pale in comparison.”

Oddone said he has no doubt the spending cuts will harm the country's scientific community.

“What will it tell to future generations of people who you want to attract to science and technology?” said the Peruvian-born Oddone. “This country has been a beacon of scientific testing and research. That beacon would be dimmed if we do something like this.”