U.S. Reps. Judy Biggert, R-13th District, of Hinsdale and Bill Foster, D-14th District, of Geneva and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., will speak at 11:15 a.m. Wednesday at Fermi National Laboratory in Batavia.

As a result of cuts to federal science programs made in the 2008 omnibus appropriations package, Fermilab had expected to layoff about 140 researchers and their staff members. In order to prevent the loss of top scientists and protect U.S. competitiveness, members of the Illinois Congressional delegation secured $62.5 million for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science in the recently enacted emergency supplemental appropriations bill.

The additional funds are expected to allow Fermi and Argonne National Laboratories to avoid further layoffs and put a number of groundbreaking experiments back on track.