Congressman Doc Hastings

Washington, Oct 15, 2009 -

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Congressman Doc Hastings (WA-04) announced that the $12 million in federal funding he requested for the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) was included in the final Homeland Security funding bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives today.  These funds will be used to complete PNNL’s Physical Sciences Facility currently under construction.  For several years Hastings has been working to ensure a successful transition for over 1,000 PNNL scientists from Hanford’s 300 Area into permanent replacement labs. 

“Providing PNNL scientists and lab personnel a permanent home to continue homeland security missions is critical to keeping America safe and keeping our Tri-Cities economy moving forward,” said Hastings.  I was honored to participate in the dedication of the new Biological Sciences and Computational Sciences last week – and I’m equally pleased to share this good news on the Physical Sciences Facility.   It has taken many years of focused efforts with PNNL, DOE, community leaders, Senator Murray and Congressman Dicks to win these hard-won achievements.  These buildings represent the start of a new chapter for PNNL and for the entire Tri-Cities community.” 

The $12 million was included in earlier versions of both the House and Senate Homeland Security funding bills.  The Senate must now pass the final version before it can be sent to the White House to be signed into law.