Sen. Ben Ray Luján is supporting a technology investment bill that would include $17 billion for the Los Alamos National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico.
The financial boost for the labs is part of an amendment Luján advocated for in the 1,400-page technology investment package known as the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act. The legislation, which passed the Senate this week, aims to provide $200 billion to U.S. research and development programs.
“New Mexico’s National labs are pioneers in fields ranging from climate change to quantum computing,” Luján wrote in a June 7 Twitter post. “I’m proud to have fought for an amendment that invests $17 billion in our National Labs to bolster innovation and create good-paying jobs.”
Luján recently went on a tour of the National Labs to learn about some the work being conducted by the facilities.
“Our National Labs are essential to public health, national security and our global competitiveness,” Luján wrote in a June 3 Facebook post.
Luján said the Innovation and Competition Act will give more opportunities to New Mexicans.
“This critical legislation will strengthen New Mexico's economy, and I’m ready to get it passed,”Luján wrote in a June 4 Twitter post.
Luján also worked to include another amendment in the bill that would create the Foundation for Energy Security and Innovation, which will reportedly push collaboration between universities, energy industry leaders, researchers and nonprofits to advance energy technology.
Los Alamos National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories are both national security facilities that have been around since WWII and the Manhattan Project.
The Innovation and Competition Act is a child of the longstanding trade tension between the U.S. and China. Both are competing for economic superiority.