Quantum Industry Takes Its Case to Congress at QED-C Showcase
The U.S. quantum industry brought its hardware to Capitol Hill this week. The Quantum Economic Development Consortium, or QED-C, held its 2026 Quantum Technology Showcase on the Hill on on July 14, giving lawmakers and federal officials a hands-on look at quantum computing, communications, and sensing systems. It came days after the White House quantum summit and weeks after President Trump’s executive orders on quantum, and lands as Congress weighs reauthorizing the National Quantum Initiative Act.
Who joined the QED-C quantum showcase
According to the July 15 announcement, the turnout was bipartisan and spread across government. Specifically, speakers included Senator Steve Daines and Representative Zoe Lofgren, the ranking member of the House Science Committee, along with officials from the Treasury, the National Science Foundation, the White House’s National Quantum Coordination Office, the State Department, and the FBI.
On the industry side, more than 20 companies demonstrated technology, among them Google Quantum AI, IBM Research, Quantinuum, D-Wave, Rigetti, IQM, Infleqtion, and NVIDIA, alongside component makers such as Bluefors and Sumitomo Cryogenics. Indeed, the range is part of the message: much of the sector, from processor builders to the cryogenics and photonics suppliers underneath them, turned up in one room.
Why the Capitol Hill showcase is important
Meanwhile, with the National Quantum Initiative Act up for reauthorization and agencies starting to implement recent policy directives, the showcase is the industry making its case to the people who will write the next round of legislation and set procurement rules. Talks centered on practical questions: supply-chain resilience, workforce, government acquisition pathways, and giving developers access to quantum machines.
That said, this was a demonstration and networking event, not a policy decision or a funding announcement. QED-C Executive Director Celia Merzbacher said the technologies on display show “the quantum industry is real and growing,” which is the consortium’s framing for an audience it wants to keep investing.