[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 5 (Tuesday, January 29, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E49-E51]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 ON NIST'S VALUE TO THE COUNTRY AND ITS CONTRIBUTIONS TO OUR NATIONAL 
                                SECURITY

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. MARK UDALL

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 29, 2002

  Mr. UDALL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to call attention to the National 
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and to its contributions 
to our national security.
  You might have seen NIST in the news lately. Two of my constituents--
Dr. Eric Cornell, a researcher at NIST's labs in Boulder, Colorado, and 
Carl Wieman, a researcher at the University of Colorado--were awarded 
the Nobel Prize for Physics for their work in creating a new state of 
matter. The goal of the scientists was to create Bose-Einstein 
condensation, an extreme state of matter predicted by Indian physicist 
Satyendra Nath Bose and later expounded upon by Albert Einstein.

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  I am proud that the work of Dr. Wieman and Dr. Cornell is a result of 
federally funded research at NIST and at the University of Colorado.
  But I am also proud of other work that NIST is doing. I'm including 
in the record a recent article from the Colorado Daily on NIST's 
contributions to our homeland security effort. From biometrics and 
explosives detection to fire-fighting computer modeling tools and new 
applications for nanotechnology, NIST is playing an important role in 
bolstering our homeland security.
  While NIST is involved in long-term research projects covering all 
scientific areas, the Institute is also working on security-related 
projects that will yield more immediate results. As NIST's new director 
Arden Bement states in the article, ``our work is to take technology 
that's currently ready, make it available, reliable, accurate and a 
dependable safeguard for the U.S. public.''
  Commerce Secretary Donald Evans recently praised NIST's relevance to 
the challenges this country faces, noting that NIST is ``one of the 
real treasures'' in the federal government, with a ``tremendous track 
record.''
  On this, Secretary Evans is exactly right. That's why I hope the 
Secretary and the rest of the Administration will support my efforts 
this year to see that NIST gets the funding it deserves and needs.
  In particular, funding is needed to address a backlog of critically 
needed repairs and maintenance at NIST's laboratories in Boulder, 
Colorado, where a staff of about 530 scientists, engineers, 
technicians, and visiting researchers conduct research in a wide range 
of chemical, physical, materials, and information sciences and 
engineering.
  As technology advances, the measurement and standards requirements 
become more and more demanding, requiring measurement laboratories that 
are clean, have reliable electric power, are free from vibrations, and 
maintain constant temperature and humidity. Most of the NIST Boulder 
labs are 45 years old, many have deteriorated so much that they can't 
be used for the most demanding measurements needed by industry, and the 
rest are deteriorating rapidly. Every day these problems go unaddressed 
means added costs, program delays, and inefficient use of staff time.
  Since 1999, 1 have fought for increased funds for NIST's Boulder 
labs. I've already begun the fight for FY2003 funding. Along with my 
colleagues in the Colorado delegation, Sen. Allard, Rep. DeGette, and 
Rep. Schaffer, I sent a letter in December to OMB Director Daniels 
asking for his help. I am also including this letter in the Record 
today.

                 [From UPI Science News, Jan. 18, 2002]

                   Colorado Daily--NIST Aids Security

                         (By Scott R. Burnell)

       Washington (UPI).--The National Institute of Standards and 
     Technology, the primary physical science research laboratory 
     in the country, is working to give the homeland security 
     effort as much technology as possible, the institute's 
     director said Wednesday.
       Arden Bement, who took the reins at NIST in early December, 
     said many security-related programs were underway before 
     Sept. 11. Bement said he currently devotes about 25 percent 
     of his time to the issue.
       ``Right now, the immediacy of our work is to take 
     technology that's currently ready, make it available, 
     reliable, accurate and a dependable safeguard for the U.S. 
     public,'' Bement told reporters. ``Our researchers are 
     providing technical support to other agencies . . . we expect 
     this involvement to continue and be amplified in the next few 
     months.''
       One area NIST researchers are focusing on is biometrics, 
     the science of identifying a person through physical 
     features. Bement said a broad spectrum of applications, 
     including face recognition and retinal scans, is being 
     examined for use in aviation security. One of the 
     technologies should be recommended for widespread use in the 
     next few months, he said.
       Another aviation-related area of research involves 
     explosives detection. Researchers are examining the 
     feasibility of an ``airflow shower'' to capture and identify 
     chemical emissions from explosives or biological agents in 
     carry-on luggage or hidden on a passenger, Bement said.
       ``We're also (examining) millimeter-wave radiation as a 
     means of detecting any concealed objects on individuals,'' 
     Bement said.
       NIST's computer modeling tools are studying possible ways 
     fire spread through the World Trade Center and contributed to 
     the structure's collapse, Bement said.
       ``These models are essential to understanding just what 
     temperature the steel experienced,'' he said. ``Such 
     simulations could be used to help train firefighters in 
     judging the likely behavior of future large-scale fires in 
     high-rise buildings.''
       The results also likely will be incorporated into future 
     building codes, he said. The institute's modeling resources 
     played a key role in verifying that mail possibly infected 
     with anthrax could be sterilized with radiation, he said.
       Looking forward, Bement wants to apply his experience with 
     the national power grid toward better safeguards for the 
     vital resource. Electric utilities use disparate systems for 
     collecting and distributing information about power needs, as 
     well as for trading generating capacity among themselves, he 
     said. Standardizing these tools is essential to putting 
     better physical and computer security in front of the 
     industry, he said.
       As for the rest of the scientific world, Bement said 
     nanotechnology--the science of physically manipulating matter 
     at the atomic or molecular level--and biotechnology are among 
     the fastest growing areas for commercial development. NIST 
     has to help those industries standardize the tools for 
     accurately measuring the results of their work.
       Although this is Bement's first job inside NIST, he has had 
     plenty of experience with the organization as part of several 
     scientific advisory boards. He comes to the directorship from 
     Purdue University, where he headed the School of Nuclear 
     Engineering. He was also director of the Midwest 
     Superconductivity Consortium and the Consortium for the 
     Intelligent Management of the Electrical Power Grid.


                                Congress of the United States,

                                 Washington, DC, December 7, 2001.
     Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr.
     Director, Office of Management and Budget, Washington, DC.
       Dear Director Daniels: As you prepare to finalize budget 
     numbers for fiscal year 2003 for the Commerce Department, we 
     strongly urge you to include funding for needed construction 
     and repairs at the Boulder, Colorado laboratories of the 
     National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
       Of the many federal research facilities in Colorado, one of 
     the most impressive is the NIST Boulder laboratory complex. 
     Its national importance was highlighted just recently with 
     the awarding of the Nobel Prize in physics to scientists from 
     Colorado's NIST laboratories and from JILA, the joint 
     institute of NIST and the University of Colorado.
       But to continue to make these important contributions, 
     NIST's Colorado facilities need help. The National Research 
     Council's Board on Assessment of NIST Programs wrote in its 
     FY99 report about ``poor air quality, poor temperature and 
     humidity control, excessive vibration and power fluctuations 
     and other deficiencies'' at the Boulder facilities, and went 
     on to note that the ``methods used to work around these 
     problems contribute to extra cost, program delays, and 
     inefficient use of staff time.'' NIST's Visiting Committee on 
     Advanced Technology wrote in its 1999 annual report that 
     ``Unless NIST has facilities comparable to or better than 
     those of the industry served, it is not possible to provide 
     state-of-the-art assistance . . . at the level of accuracy 
     required.''
       The current plan for NIST's Construction of Research 
     Facilities program on NIST's 45-year old Boulder, Colorado 
     campus is the culmination of a long and thorough effort to 
     ensure that NIST keeps pace with advances in science and 
     technology and the requirements of the country for advanced 
     technical measurements and standards.
       The first steps to complete several urgently needed 
     construction and major renovation projects include 
     construction of a central utility plant, construction of a 
     new primary electrical service, the partial renovation of 
     Building 4, the design for the renovation of the main 
     building on campus, Building 1, and the renovation of wings 3 
     and 4 of this building. Additional renovations and 
     construction needs to Building I (wings 5 and 6), Building 
     24, and cleanroom facilities in Boulder will be needed in 
     future years to meet the growing scientific requirements 
     placed on these aging facilities.
       To begin implementing this plan, we urge that the FY2003 
     budget include:
       Central Utility Plant ($29.7 million)--would supply 
     filtered power, heating, and cooling to all laboratory 
     buildings on the site. An October 1998 study reviewed and 
     updated previous studies of problems with the Boulder 
     laboratories and confirmed that the most effective way to 
     solve them was to build a centralized utility plant and HVAC 
     distribution System at a cost of $29.7 million. The plant 
     will by no means solve all of the campus's environmental 
     control problems. None of these other problems, however, can 
     be. solved cost-effectively without a new central plant.
       New Primary Electrical Service ($5.4 million)--The NIST 
     Boulder campus experiences frequent power outages and power 
     spikes due to the remaining overhead power lines. Loss of 
     power, even for a few seconds, can cause some research 
     projects requiring long data collection times to have to be 
     completely repeated. Voltage drops can cause delicate 
     microscope probes to crash into expensive samples or produce 
     inaccurate measurement readings lowering the quality of data. 
     NIST plans to alleviate its power continuity and power 
     quality problems by constructing an underground power 
     conduit. Congress appropriated $500 thousand for the design 
     of this project in FY 2001 budget.
       Design and Limited Renovation of Building 4 ($3.7 million), 
     Renovation Design of Building 1 ($9.1 million), and 
     Renovation of Wing 3 and 4 of Building 1 ($12.5 million)--
     Despite the fact that Boulder's Building I is nearly 50 years 
     old, it can still provide quality research space if major 
     renovation is undertaken. The basic building layout of six 
     largely independent on-grade wings provides a large amount of 
     low vibration research space. Most of the building's current 
     vibration problems are caused by aging and poorly

[[Page E51]]

     located mechanical systems. These problems can be reduced by 
     planned building. renovations that will add service corridors 
     along the sides or ends of the building to house and 
     distribute mechanical services.
       NIST has played a critical role in helping build this 
     country's science and technology infrastructure and is poised 
     to contribute to even greater advances in the 21st century. 
     We urge your support to help ensure NIST has the tools it 
     needs to do this vital work.
       Thank you for consideration of these matters.
           Sincerely,
                                                       Mark Udall,
                                               Member of Congress.
                                                     Bob Schaffer,
                                               Member of Congress.
                                                     Wayne Allard,
                                                      U.S. Senate.
                                                   Dianna DeGette,
                                               Member of Congress.

     

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