[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 8 (Thursday, January 16, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1080-S1081]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. WYDEN (for himself, Mr. Allen, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. Warner, 
        Ms. Mikulski, Mr. Hollings, Ms. Landrieu, Mrs. Clinton, Mr. 
        Levin, and Mr. Bayh):
  S. 189. A bill to authorize appropriations for nanoscience, 
nanoengineering, and nanotechnology research, and for other purposes; 
to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, far from the stuff of science fiction, 
nanotechnology has become a reality in the lives of many Americans. 
While there is tremendous potential for further study in this field, 
nanotechnology's current impacts range from the pedestrian to the 
extraordinary. A TV commercial demonstrates the practicality of 
nanotechnology through stain-resistant pants. Prosthetic and medical 
implants have been improved through molecularly designed surfaces that 
interact with the cells of the body. There is no question that this 
field will dramatically change the way Americans live.

[[Page S1081]]

  I was pleased that my colleagues in the Commerce Committee in the 
last Congress recognized the tremendous potential of nanotechnology and 
passed this bill out of committee with unanimous bipartisan support. 
Nanotechnology innovations will bring enormous benefits to America's 
economy and to nearly every aspect of life in the coming decades. My 
own judgment is the nanotechnology revolution has the potential to 
change America on a scale equal to, if not greater than, the computer 
revolution. I am determined that the United States will not miss, but 
will mine the opportunities of nanotechnology. At present, efforts in 
the nanotechnology field are strewn across a half-dozen Federal 
agencies. I want America to marshal its various nanotechnology efforts 
into one driving force to remain the world's leader in this burgeoning 
field. And I believe Federal support is essential to achieving that 
goal.
  Legislation I am introducing today will provide a smart, accelerate, 
and organized approach to nanotechnology research, development, and 
education. In my view, there are three major steps America must take to 
ensure the highest success for its nanotechnology efforts.
  First, a National nanotechnology Research Program should be 
established to superintend long-term fundamental nanoscience and 
engineering research. The program's goals will be to ensure America's 
leadership and economic competitiveness in nanotechnology, and to make 
sure ethical and social concerns are taken into account alongside the 
development of this discipline.
  Second, the Federal Government should support nanoscience through a 
program of research grants, and also through the establishment of 
nanotechnology research centers. These centers would serve as key 
components of a national research infrastructure, bringing together 
experts from the various disciplines that must intersect for nanoscale 
projects to succeed and building a network that includes State-
supported centers. As these research efforts take shape, educational 
opportunities will be the key to their long-term success. Through this 
legislation, I commit to helping students who would enter the field of 
nanotechnology. This discipline requires multiple areas of expertise. 
Students with the drive and the talent to tackle physics, chemistry, 
and the material sciences simultaneously deserve all the support we can 
offer.
  Third, the government should create connections across its agencies 
to aid in the meshing of various nanotechnology efforts. These could 
include a national steering office, and a Presidential nanotechnology 
Advisory Committee, modeled on the President's Information Technology 
Advisory Committee.
  I also believe that as these organizational support structures are 
put into place, rigorous evaluation must take place to ensure the 
maximum efficiency of our efforts. Personally, I would call for an 
annual review of America's nanotechnology efforts from the Presidential 
Advisory Committee, and a periodic review from the National Academy of 
Sciences. In addition to monitoring our own progress, the United States 
should keep abreast of the world's nanotechnology efforts through a 
series of benchmarking studies.
  If the Federal Government fails to get behind nanotechnology now with 
organized, goal-oriented support, this Nation runs the risk of falling 
behind others in the world who recognize the potential of this 
discipline. Nanotechnology is already making pants more stain-
resistant, making windows self-washing and making car parts stronger 
with tiny particles of clay. What America risks missing is the next 
generation of nanotechnology. In the next wave, nanoparticles and 
nanodevices will become the building blocks of our health care, 
agriculture, manufacturing, environmental cleanup, and even national 
security.
  America risks missing a revolution in electronics, where a device the 
size of a sugar cube could hold all of the information in the Library 
of Congress. Today's silicon-based technologies can only shrink so 
small. Eventually, nanotechnologies will grow devices from the 
molecular level up. Small though they may be, their capabilities and 
their impact will be enormous. Spacecraft could be the size of mere 
molecules.
  America risks missing a revolution in health care. In my home State, 
Oregon State University researchers are working on the microscale to 
create lapel-pin-sized biosensors that use the color-changing cells of 
the Siamese fighting fish to provide instant visual warnings when a 
biotoxin is present. An antimicrobial dressing for battlefield wounds 
is already available today, containing silver nanocrystals that prevent 
infection and reduce inflammation. The health care possibilities for 
nanotechnology are limitless. Eventually, nanoscale particles will 
travel human bodies to detect and cure disease. Chemotherapy could 
attack individual cancer cells and leave healthy cells intact. Tiny 
bulldozers could unclog blocked arteries. Human disease will be fought 
cell by cell, molecule by molecule, and nanotechnology will provide 
victories over disease that we can't even conceive today.
  America risks missing a host of beneficial breakthroughs. American 
scientists could be the first to create nanomaterials for manufacturing 
and design that are stronger, lighter, harder, self-repairing, and 
safer. Nanoscale devices could scrub automobile pollution out of the 
air as it is produced. Nanoparticles could cover armor to make American 
soldiers almost invisible to enemies and even tend their wounds. 
nanotechnology could grow steel stronger than what's made today, with 
little or no waste to pollute the environment.
  Moreover, and this is even more important given our struggling 
economy, America risks missing an economic revolution based on 
nanotechnology. With much of nanotechnology existing in a research 
milieu, venture capitalists are already investing $1 billion in 
American nanotech interests this year alone. It's estimated that 
nanotechnology will become a trillion-dollar industry over the next 10 
years. As nanotechnology grows, the ranks of skilled workers needed to 
discover and apply its capabilities must grow too. In the 
nanotechnology revolution, areas of high unemployment could become 
magnets for domestic production, engineering and research for 
nanotechnology applications--but only if government doesn't miss the 
boat.
  Our country's National Nanotechnology Initiative is a step in the 
right direction. This Nation has already committed substantial funds to 
nanotechnology research and development in the coming years. But 
funding is not enough. There must be careful planning to make sure that 
money is used for sound science over the long-term. That is the reason 
for the legislation I am issuing today. The strategic planning it 
prescribes will ensure that scientists get the support they need to 
realize nanotechnology's greatest potential.
  In 1944 the visionary President Franklin Delano Roosevelt requested a 
leading American scientist's opinion on advancing the United States' 
scientific efforts to benefit the world. Dr. Vannevar Bush offered his 
reply to President Harry S Truman the next year, following FDR's death. 
In his report to the President, Dr. Bush wrote, ``The Government should 
accept new responsibilities for promoting the flow of new scientific 
knowledge and the development of scientific talent in our youth. These 
responsibilities are the proper concern of the Government, for they 
vitally affect our health, our jobs, and our national security. It is 
in keeping also with basic United States policy that the Government 
should foster the opening of new frontiers and this is the modern way 
to do it.''
  Those principles, so true nearly 60 years ago, are truer still today. 
I propose that the government now accept new responsibilities in 
promoting and developing nanatechnology. I am pleased to be joined on 
this legislation by Senators Allen, Lieberman, Mikulski, Hollings, 
Landrieu, Clinton, and Levin. I ask unanimous consent that this 
statement be entered in the Record.
                                 ______