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The following Energy Sciences Coalition FY 2003 Funding Statement was endorsed by the AIP Governing Board in February 2002:

The Energy Sciences Coalition (ESC) encourages the Administration and Congress to strengthen the nation's investment in the Department of Energy's Office of Science (SC) programs and facilities by providing an increase of at least $300 million, for a minimum budget of $3.580 billion in FY 2003.

The National Academy of Sciences has determined that during the last half-century science-driven technology accounted for more than 50% of the growth in the U.S. economy. The programs and national user facilities of the Office of Science are vital to the nation's basic research investment across all disciplines in the natural sciences, and yield both short term benefits and future advances in national and homeland security, energy supply, economic prosperity, quality of life, and educational growth.

DOE is the primary supporter of scientific facilities and the largest sponsor of research in the physical sciences, second in computer science and mathematics, and third in engineering. SC provides a significant portion of federal R&D funding for scientists and students at our universities and plays a central role in supporting long-term, peer-reviewed basic research that strengthens our knowledge base and fosters the next generation of scientists.

DOE's support of large and very specialized scientific facilities at our national laboratories and universities complements, and in many cases centrally supports, the individual investigator-funded research performed by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. Each year more than 15,000 sponsored scientists and students from academe, industry, and government -- many funded by agencies other than DOE -- conduct cutting edge experiments at DOE research facilities. An expanded SC budget will permit more complete utilization of DOE's world-class facilities, thus returning more on the investment made for their construction and maximizing their scientific contributions and their tremendous educational value.

ESC appreciates the bipartisan support shown by Congress and the Administration in the final FY 2002 budget for the Office of Science. To maintain the tremendous advances that the U.S. brings to basic scientific research and into the marketplace, we strongly encourage Congress and the Administration to provide the Office of Science with a $300 million increase in funding for a total of $3.5 billion in FY 2003. This increase would be allocated to support a targeted increase in the DOE research infrastructure of $300 million a year for each of the next five years, allotted as follows:

$100 million to strengthen core research and education in the physical sciences and engineering performed in universities and national laboratories; $100 million to increase the effectiveness and utilization of DOE's world class research facilities; $50 million to develop the next generation of scientific research tools; and $50 million to advance research and innovation, specifically targeting energy independence and national security.

Though a relatively modest increase in overall funding, this investment will help ensure continued U.S. scientific leadership in key scientific and engineering fields that will benefit the nation for years to come.