Zoe Lofgren: “I am very pleased that this amendment, which I was proud to cosponsor with my colleagues Reps. Beyer and Trahan, was…”

“I am very pleased that this amendment, which I was proud to cosponsor with my colleagues Reps. Beyer and Trahan, was made in order. The amendment is quite straightforward. It would ensure that the Department of Energy's total support for fusion materials and fuel cycle R&D at least matches the level of $105 million proposed in the President's FY 2025 Budget Request (PBR). The most recent Long Range Plan produced by the Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee recommended significantly increasing support for fusion materials and fuel cycle R&D, as well as for innovative public-private partnerships such as the fusion milestone program, even under constrained budget scenarios. H.R. 8997 currently includes $40 million to support the new Fusion Innovation Research Engine (FIRE) collaboratives proposed by DOE that will focus on addressing fusion materials and fuel cycle R&D in particular. And the bill also includes $25 million for construction of the Material Plasma Exposure Experiment (MPEX) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. These are important activities and projects that I certainly support. However, the PBR also proposes $20 million for fusion materials R&D and $20 million for fusion fuel cycle R&D beyond the specific work carried out by the FIRE collaboratives. The bill report is currently silent on funding for these critical activities, so this amendment would simply clarify that they would also be supported by this bill.…”