U.S. Senator Dick Durbin says the budget proposed by President Barack Obama maintains funding for two national laboratories in Illinois.
The spending plan includes more than $5 billion for the Energy Department’s Office of Science. That's the primary funding source for the Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont and Fermilab in Batavia.
Argonne is one of the Energy Department's largest research centers, spanning fields including high-energy physics, climatology and biotechnology. Fermilab is a leading center of high-energy physics research.
The two labs employ roughly 4,600 people.
