Comment from Kenneth Bloom

[200.202(e), 200.220] To Whom it May Concern: I am a full professor and department chair whose research is in experimental particle physics. I am writing in my personal capacity to oppose the proposed revisions to sections 200.202(e) and 200.220 that would restrict international scientific collaboration and isolate American scientists. I work in one of the world's largest international scientific collaborations, which performs experiments at CERN's Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland. Our work led to the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics. The U.S. is the largest participating country in the project. Under the new rule, it is possible that we could only collaborate on this project with the express approval of the federal government. That would likely destroy the entire collaboration and put all of global particle physics at risk. The U.S. has made a major investment in the construction of the Large Hadron Collider and its associated experimental apparatus. These include ongoing investments in instruments that are currently under construction, and would perhaps never be used if the rule is enacted. Science advances by bringing together the best minds from around the world, who then generate creative ideas together. Some projects are so large that no one nation can perform them; they need the ideas and talents of large teams who can bring a variety of resources to a project. If the U.S. cannot participate in international scientific collaborations, either scientific progress will be lost altogether, or other countries will just go on without the U.S. and reap the benefits of discoveries for themselves.