Treated more or less as a novelty during his successful campaign for Congress, Bill Foster's background as a particle physicist is playing an increasingly important role in his representation of the 14th District. Specifically, Foster's scientific background has strengthened Democratic efforts to drum up federal support for Batavia-based Fermilab, one of the Department of Energy's national science laboratories.
The Daily Herald recognized his support of the facility in an editorial over the weekend:
Foster joined other Illinois members of Congress and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin two weeks ago in proclaiming the U.S. Senate had approved $250 million in funding for energy, helping to assure Fermilab in Batavia could continue its research and retain staffing that was threatened by budget cuts late last year. Now Foster will push the concept among his colleagues in the House in hopes of approving the bill, which earmarks $100 million for the Department of Energy's Office of Science and another $150 million to the National Science Foundation.
Foster himself worked at Fermilab before entering politics. Not only has he championed the lab in the halls of Congress, he also recently spoke with physicists in Batavia, pushing them to more clearly communicate the "health, security, and economic" importance of their projects to lawmakers in Washington.
Beyond the general promise that scientific advancement holds for the entire country, Fermilab is a pressing issue in the 14th District. The lab is planning to lay off some of its 1,900-person workforce due to recent budget cuts.
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