Many of the Fermilab community who volunteer for John Laesch for Congress contacted our office On Tuesday, Dec. 18, to alert us of the devastating cuts to high energy physics that came in the House Omnibus Appropriations bill that was passed on Monday, Dec. 17, 2007.
They were rightly concerned because the bill slashes $90 million in funding for High Energy Physicis projects, including $62 million at Fermi National Laboratory (located in IL-14). You can get details by reading Fermilab’s internal newsletter, Fermilab Today.

The $555 billion bill gives George Bush another blank check worth $70 Billion to continue the occupation of Iraq. Sadly, there was no accountability or a specific timetable attached to the additional Iraq occupation funding.
I guess lawmakers will be returning to their districts this Christmas break with lots of pork while our soldiers serving in Iraq are enjoying sand and MRE's.
In a recent Chicago Tribune article, a former director of Fermilab placed the blame for the budget cuts on war spending, and a spokeswoman for Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), said changes to the budget agreement are "unlikely at this stage, and that it could become law by the end of this week."
This appropriations bill cuts funding for science; with the cuts in the High Energy Physics (HEP) hitting Fermilab’s budget the hardest. The $62 million cut to Fermilab will result in zero funding for NOvA, a cutting edge Neutrino program, and the majority of funding for Research and Development for the International Linear Collider (ILC). The NOvA program and the ILC Research and Development were the basic plan for Fermilab’s survival after the Tevatron was scheduled to shut down. These cuts greatly jeopardize the prospect of the ILC coming to the Fox Valley and the future of Fermilab itself.
The Omnibus bill is over 3,500 pages long and has over 9,000 earmarks.
After passage, the bill was sent to the U.S. Senate where, the leadership felt the need to give George Bush another blank check worth $70 Billion to continue the occupation of Iraq.
Losing funding for Fermilab is not only bad for the Fox Valley, but it also reflects where we are as a society. Pouring money into the Iraq occupation at the expense of funding for science, education, and healthcare is no way to plan for our future.
I did some math, and figured out that money slashed from Fermilab’s budget will buy us an additional 6 hours of Iraqi occupation.
I am sure that our soldiers who have endured the heat, frustration and lack of planning in Iraq will appreciate this "courageous move" by Congress as much as the scientists at Fermi National Laboratory will.
Republican leaders like Rep. John Boehner are trying to make hay of this
"mis"-appropriations bill, but they don’t have a leg to stand on.
After years of fiscal irresponsibility and enabling the reckless ambitions of President Bush, they Republicans are better off folding up shop and going home.
Of course, we don’t have a representative in this district since Dennis Hastert retired, but we do have an amazing opportunity to replace rubber-stamp Hastert with a strong veteran who is calling to de-fund the Iraq War.
"I’m John Laesch and I approve of this message because America needs more leaders in Washington who are willing to de-fund this war. I am one of those leaders and the only candidate in this race who is taking this position."
John Laesch
Democrat for U.S. Congress
Illinois' 14th District