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Dear Colleagues, Steven Koonin, the Under Secretary for Science Designee, addressed the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources last week as part of his confirmation process. He offered observations about the three major areas of DOE technical activities - basic science, nuclear security, and energy technologies. On basic science: " The basic research supported by the Office of Science is one of the jewels of the Federal research portfolio. The long tradition of peer-reviewed support for university and national laboratory researchers and forefront user facilities continues to drive advances on many fronts. We are on the cusp of understanding the origin of mass, the nature of most of what's in the universe, and how quarks and gluons combine to form nuclei. New instrumentation and new information technologies are enabling better understanding of the changing climate and new capabilities to predict, manipulate, and control materials, biological systems, and plasma. The commitments from Congress and the Administration to double support for these activities over the next decade are more than justified. " The full text of his address can be found at: http://www.congressional.energy.gov/documents/4-23-09_Final_Nomination_Testimony_(Koonin).pdf Sincerely, Norman Graf