WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)—a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation (CST)—underscored to Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, and other artificial intelligence (AI) leaders how important Fermilab and Argonne National Laboratory are to accelerating scientific breakthroughs in fields such as particle physics, AI and cancer research, as well as how pivotal the labs are to Illinois and our nation’s economy. During her remarks, Duckworth also condemned Donald Trump and Elon Musk for taking a chainsaw to federal research funding, which threatens to set our country back decades and hurts our capacity to be a world leader in scientific breakthroughs. Video of Duckworth’s remarks can be found on her YouTube.
“Illinois is the proud home of two crown jewels of scientific innovation and research—Fermilab and Argonne National Laboratory—and there’s nothing more important than sustaining and amplifying investments in our national labs,” said Duckworth. “Yet, Donald Trump and Elon Musk—enabled by Congressional Republicans—are plotting to take a chainsaw to the vital scientific research being conducted across the country. It’s a self-sabotaging attack that will greatly hurt our ability to produce lifechanging scientific breakthroughs.”
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Duckworth has been a strong advocate for providing Fermilab and Argonne National Laboratory with the federal support they need to continue their groundbreaking research. In last year’s Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) spending bills, Duckworth secured nearly $450 million in funding for new construction and improvements at Fermilab, as well as over $250 million to support and develop projects at Argonne.
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