We live in a complex age where many of the problems we face can, whatever their origins, only have solutions that involve a deep understanding of science and technology. Modern society desperately needs the finest minds available to devise solutions to these problems. It is in society's interest to support such research. This is how the major discoveries that benefit humanity are largely made. What's more, no one knows what aspect of basic research will have practical value and which will not.
Industrial applications are excellent.
Fundamental research, research into the heart of nature is the means by which we acquire the new knowledge that gets applied. The trouble is that ordering someone to go out and make a specific invention hardly guarantees that it gets done. Cutting off fundamental curiosity-driven science is like eating seed corn. The Founders understood this well. Through disuse they can become no more than votive objects, patriotic lip service.