Stop Trump's Chaos--Stand Up for Science

Floor Speech

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Mr. FOSTER. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Stevens and Congressman Subramanyam for organizing this on such an important topic.

As Congress' sole Ph.D. physicist, I spent 25 years of my life, before coming to Congress, working at the Department of Energy Office of Science supported laboratory. We were smashing protons and antiprotons together to make particles that have not been around since the big bang. I am proud to have been on the team that discovered the top quark, the heaviest known form of matter. We worked with scientists from all over the world who came to America because we had the best equipment, the best experiments, and the best scientists, and they wanted to collaborate. All of this is at risk.

Amidst the Republican assault on science, I am going to focus my remarks tonight mainly on the NSF.

On May 10, we celebrated the 75th anniversary of the National Science Foundation. Today, together with my fellow Representatives Don Beyer, Dr. Scott Franklin, and Haley Stevens, we introduced a House resolution to celebrate that anniversary.

The resolution highlights the importance of the NSF for our Nation's research enterprise and the workforce it supports, totaling roughly 350,000 students, teachers, scientists, entrepreneurs, and researchers, including 268 Nobel Prize winners to date.

The NSF is a cornerstone of American innovation and is foundational for continuing basic research discoveries. We hope this work continues for many decades to come.

Support for Federal science agencies like the NSF have led to new and unexpected research directions that would not have been possible without Federal funding.

That is why it is important that we recognize the role that NSF- funded basic research plays in the discoveries driving the next generation of science.

This includes funding for AI, for cybersecurity, for supercomputers, fusion energy, space, ocean exploration, black holes, semiconductors, and, last but not least, the internet.

In addition to basic research, the NSF also funds many educational programs supporting the next generation of scientists. Perhaps in the fullness of time that is its most crucial mission because it enables the careers to move forward in science of these young people who have shared my fascination with science.

Over the past 75 years, the NSF has stayed true to its mission to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; and to secure the national defense.

Underpinning this has been its commitment to a merit-based and peer- reviewed grant process that has ensured that good science is consistently prioritized and free from political interference.

The NSF has had an exemplary 75 years, and I look forward to its progress in the next 75.

So, how are Republicans celebrating this anniversary?

By slashing the budget by a factor of two and muzzling the science.

Unfortunately, the Trump administration has failed to see the importance of this Federal investment in science for our country's future.

The President's fiscal year 2026 budget proposes cutting the NSF budget by 55 percent, including fundamental research, education, and broadening participation efforts.

Other agencies have been impacted by the funding cuts, including NIH by 37 percent, NOAA by 24 percent, the EPA by 54 percent, NASA's science arm by 46 percent, and the Department of Energy Office of Science by 14 percent, among many others.

Long term, these cuts will have detrimental impacts on scientific and technological innovation and cause irreparable damage to our global competitiveness. So this discussion could not come at a more important time.

As a result of Trump's directives, all grant funding at the NSF is now halted, and the existing grants are under review for termination.

I led over 100 of my fellow Members in a letter to the administration opposing this unconstitutional grant freeze, which is in direct opposition to Congress' appropriations.

This measure comes after canceling over 1,000 NSF active research grants last month, with another 344 more grants canceled recently in the third consecutive round of Friday terminations.

Why Friday?

It is because Friday traditionally is the time that they reveal actions that they are ashamed of. I wonder why they put it on Friday.

In addition to freezing all grants at the NSF, the agency instituted a 15 percent cap on indirect cost rates for colleges and universities where many of our future scientists receive training and participate in research experiences early in life that spark their curiosity.

Many of these grants across many agencies are impacting STEM education across the career pipeline. In addition to stopping research discoveries, these cuts will lead to the loss of STEM talent, which places the United States at a permanent competitive disadvantage.

President Trump's budget also proposes eliminating NASA's Office of STEM Engagement, which will significantly deter young talent from participating in STEM programming and impair our Nation's ability to lead in scientific fields.

In another Republican assault on STEM education, which seems to be a theme of their cuts, at the U.S. Geological Survey, the Federal hiring freeze led to the termination of a summer internship program for undergraduate students. The National Association of Geoscience Teachers-USGS Cooperative Summer Fellowship program had been running since 1965, matching undergraduate students with mentors and projects at the agency.

Through this program, talented student interns benefit from working with well-established scientists and gain valuable research experience at a well-known science agency. This experience can spark their curiosity in science and may set them up for long-term research careers, assuming, of course, the budget is not slashed there as well.

Altogether, since 1965, around 3,000 interns have contributed to scientific projects in research areas of importance to USGS and NAGT to promote high-quality Earth education.

Programs like this allow students to contribute to our country's scientific achievements, energy resource development, and economic prosperity. However, this year, 39 promising young geoscientists will not have this opportunity.

So what does this mean for the scientific workforce?

The recent departure of the NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan, known to all of us as ``Dr. Panch,'' from the NSF was a really notable negative milestone for this administration's actions.

It is a significant loss when we lose such dedicated and talented public servants. They are leaving the Federal Government workforce not as happy campers, and everybody knows it.

This follows workers like Dr. Peter Marks, who is one of the heroes of Operation Warp Speed and one of the lead scientists at the FDA. There are hundreds of others, unfortunately, following in their footsteps.

To shed light on this issue, for example, this last March, together with my colleague, Don Beyer, I led 37 House Members in a letter to the Trump administration expressing our strong support for the agency and grave concerns with the firing of 168 workers at the NSF.

Unfortunately, the DOGEs in the Trump administration have ignored this sort of appeal completely.

This letter highlighted the importance of NSF funding to our country's leadership in cancer research, energy, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing. None of this work would be possible without program managers and experts who play central roles in grant funding decisions at the agency.

A negative consequence of these actions for our country is that we will not only miss out on scientific breakthroughs that drive our country forward, but lose an entire generation of scientists who cannot complete their NSF-supported training and will abandon research careers altogether, or perhaps, as was mentioned, simply depart for countries abroad.

So I want to assure NSF-funded researchers and staff that we are on their side, and we are supporting them. They should keep coming to Congress to tell us about the direct impacts, and that goes for scientists in all fields throughout this country.

It is our duty to ensure that, regardless of the political climate, science remains at the forefront of our Nation's progress and innovation.

So, Mr. Speaker, I urge my sensible colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support efforts that increase the resiliency of our Federal science agencies in the face of these growing threats from the administration, and to continue supporting the U.S. research workforce.

Congratulations, again, to the NSF on celebrating 75 years. We will continue to fight for the agency's viability and for our Nation's competitiveness by supporting all of our Federal science agencies.

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