Whereas the National Day of Light is aimed at raising awareness of the vital role of light in our daily lives and its importance to 21st-century technology and innovation;

Whereas, for centuries, light-based technologies have provided solutions to worldwide challenges in energy, agriculture, manufacturing, telecommunications, national security, and health;

Whereas optics and photonics is the study of the fundamental properties of light and harnessing them for practical applications;

Whereas light has revolutionized medicine through technologies such as x-ray imaging, laser surgery, and cancer treatments;

Whereas light has transformed communication via the internet, a tool we cannot imagine living without today;

Whereas light has helped us improve transportation safety with sensors in vehicles and advanced infrastructure monitoring;

Whereas light has greatly enhanced the ability of the United States to gather intelligence, defend the Nation, and protect its troops in the field;

Whereas most of what we have observed in the universe is known only through light-based technologies, first from the visible wavelengths observed by Galileo into x-ray, infrared, and radio waves, and even gravitational waves detected by lasers;

Whereas advanced manufacturing is possible due to light-based technologies that can provide custom, precise, and high-added value through means such as additive manufacturing;

Whereas quantum computing, sensing, and communication systems are largely enabled by light-based technologies;

Whereas, through the National Quantum Initiative Act (Public Law 115–368), the United States is accelerating our investment in quantum information science and the development of commercially available quantum-based technologies, thereby facilitating growth in the economy of the United States and protecting our national security;

Whereas chirped pulse amplification, a technique used to amplify ultrashort laser pulses, was recognized with the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics and has become the basis of all modern high-power lasers, enabling revolutionary applications of ultraintense light, including LASIK laser eye surgery, cancer treatment, commercial laser materials processing, fundamental physics research, and ultrafast imaging, including attosecond science;

Whereas 2026 marks the 50-year anniversary of the compact fluorescent lamp, an United States innovation that transformed energy-efficient lighting and changed how homes, schools, workplaces, and public buildings across the United States are illuminated; and

Whereas May 16 is already recognized internationally as the Day of Light: Now, therefore, be it