U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, a Democrat representing Illinois’ eighth Congressional District, visited the University’s Soybean Innovation Lab Tuesday as part of a series of events focused on discussing affordability and federal funding across the state.
The congressman’s visit took place exactly one year after Peter Goldsmith, director of SIL and professor in ACES, received two executive orders to stop all operations at the lab. Since then, the lab received donations, funding a smaller research team to continue their work.
In attendance were members of the SIL administration team, including Goldsmith, who doubles as SIL’s principal investigator, assistant director Michelle Da Fonseca Santos and deputy director Brian Diers, who provided the congressman a tour of the lab.
Krishnamoorthi began by asking the research team about the importance of their research on soy, after which they detailed the various uses of the crop. They spoke about the significance of soybeans to the state and national economies, also highlighting the SIL’s work across the globe.
“What I often tell scientists and researchers is, ‘You’re doing great work, but nobody knows it,’” Krishnamoorthi said. “We just never thought that someone would be so reckless, and now we know … So we have to put some protections in place.”
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Funded by a private $1 million donation, Goldsmith announced in April 2025 that the SIL could reopen temporarily. These funds also fuel SIL research based in four African countries, where researchers utilize the Shire Valley Transformation Program’s irrigation infrastructure to increase soybean growth in the region.
In November 2025, the Gates Foundation made a $1.5 million donation to SIL, which the researchers estimate will last them until 2027. Part of this funding goes toward strengthening and testing seed products across sub-Saharan Africa.
“(Soybeans are) very adaptable, and that’s where (Diers) and breeders come in: to adapt it,” Goldsmith said. “The demand for soy is tremendous. It’s for food, feed, oil, biodiesel and industrial materials. It affects dozens of industries, because it’s such a great raw material … I would call it a miracle crop.”
Krishnamoorthi has represented Illinois’ 8th Congressional District since 2017, which includes Chicago suburbs Schaumburg and Elgin, Illinois. He is currently running for Illinois’ vacant Senate seat, making his bid after Senator Dick Durbin’s retirement announcement in April 2025. Other democratic frontrunners include Illinois’ Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton and Rep. Robin Kelly, D-2.
Earlier Tuesday, Krishnamoorthi visited a pharmacy in East St. Louis, Illinois, to discuss healthcare costs. Following his visit to SIL, his team travelled to an elementary school in Normal, Illinois, to highlight the impact of federal cuts on afterschool programs.
“This administration has been chaotic in its funding of many different programs,” Krishnamoorthi said. “And probably anything related to research and development across the government — across all agencies — has been a victim of random cuts, funding freezes, ideologically driven or motivated, cuts that have nothing to do with the subject matter at hand.”
The congressman suggested both public outreach initiatives and legislative action as strategies to avoid similar funding cuts — like that impacting the SIL — in the future.
“I’m hopeful that more people can speak up about this, not just you, but people like me and others in the area, and talk about how research and development is not a partisan exercise,” Krishnamoorthi said. “(This) has nothing to do with politics. It’s planting the seed for future prosperity.”
