[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 61 (Wednesday, May 11, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S4934]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           COMMENORATING THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF MOORE'S LAW

 Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, 40 years ago in the April 1965 
issue of Electronics magazine, Gordon Moore, a young engineer, 
accurately forecast years of exponential improvements in computer chip 
performance. His abstract observations led to the most concrete 
results.
  In his article entitled, ``Cramming More Components onto Integrated 
Circuits,'' Moore first articulated his thinking on the future of the 
integrated circuit. Later, he theorized that the number of transistors 
on a computer chip would continue to double in power for the same price 
every 18 months. This postulation became popularly known as Moore's 
Law, and it was a stunning challenge for scientists and engineers to 
discover new phenomena and ideas to maintain America's technological 
momentum.
  Shortly thereafter, Gordon Moore helped found the Intel Corporation, 
which started as a pioneer in cutting-edge semiconductor technology and 
today remains at the frontier of innovation in integrated circuits. 
Since that time, all in accordance with Moore's Law, there have been 
more than three dozen such doublings in computer chip performance.
  No wonder that we marvel how our world has changed more in the past 
century than in the previous hundred centuries. It took 10,000 years to 
get from the dawn of civilization to the airplane, but just 66 years to 
get from powered flight to the moon landing. In 1971, Intel could fit 
2300 transistors on a silicon chip; later this year, Intel is expected 
to unveil a chip with nearly 2 billion transistors.
  ``It's kind of a Biblical thing,'' Leon Lederman, the Nobel laureate, 
once noted, ``Science begets technology. Once we have transistors, we 
can make computers. When we have computers, we can make much better 
transistors . . . which can make better computers.''
  In the years ahead, networked supercomputers operating at speeds of 
over one thousand trillion operations per second will have implications 
as profound as the Industrial Revolution's spread of technology.
  Such technological innovation, predicted by Moore's Law, has led to 
advances in virtually every industry and has fundamentally impacted the 
way we live, work, and play. Information technology has become 
commonplace in our schools, libraries, homes, offices, and businesses--
and new information technology applications are still developing 
rapidly.
  Information technology has had a mutually reinforcing relationship 
with our ``golden age'' of science and engineering. Advances in 
supercomputers, simulations, and networks are creating a new window 
into the natural world--making computing as valuable for theory and 
experimentation as a tool for scientific discovery.
  It has accelerated the pace of scientific discovery across the board 
in all scientific disciplines. Information visualization and simulation 
technologies make it possible to learn, explore, and communicate more 
complex concepts. Supercomputer technology, for example, allows 
researchers to develop lifesaving drugs more rapidly, better understand 
the functions of our genes once they have been sequenced, or more 
accurately predict tornadoes. Advanced information technology tools 
have emerged to support ``collaboratories''--geographically separate 
research units on different sides of the world functioning as a single 
laboratory.
  Perhaps the most important area where information technology's impact 
has been greatest is in our economic sector. It is commonly credited as 
being a key factor in our economy's structural shift from manufacturing 
to services, altering the nature of our work and the needs of our 
workforce.
  The widespread diffusion of information technology throughout the 
economy, and its integration into new business models producing more 
efficient production methods added a full percentage point to the 
Nation's productivity after 1995. Economists note that productivity is 
the most important driver of long-term economic growth, and information 
technology increases economic output more than any other type of 
capital investment.
  Beginning in 1995, U.S. productivity--spurred by information 
technology applications--accelerated to rates of growth not seen in two 
decades. The difference between 1.5 percent and 2.5 percent 
productivity growth is the difference between the standard of living 
doubling in one generation or in two generations. It has enormous 
implications.
  The impact of Moore's Law and the resulting U.S. technology industry 
has also had enormous implications for my home State of New Mexico.
  We are proud to be part of the drive within the technology industry 
to keep pace with Moore's Law. Small and large businesses alike which 
are part of our local technology industry have led to steadily 
increasing economic growth and development. Intel Corporation, with 
Gordon Moore at its helm, has become a major contributor to our State's 
economy and is an example of the impact that U.S. technological 
leadership has at a local level.
  Overall, Intel has a significant economic and fiscal impact on our 
State and region. Intel came to Rio Rancho, just outside of 
Albuquerque, in 1980 and has grown to become our State's largest 
private manufacturer. Intel New Mexico employs more than 5,000 people 
and pays some of the highest wages. In 2001-2002, Intel spent $2 
billion on new facilities and upgrades to other facilities.
  Moreover, Intel's continued growth has brought other benefits to our 
communities as well, particularly in the area of education. Intel made 
a $2 million donation to the National Hispanic Cultural Center to 
integrate the latest technology tools in support of the Intel Center 
for Technology and the Visual Arts. Intel's ``Teach to the Future'' has 
provided technology training for more than 6,000 New Mexico teachers to 
help them incorporate technology into their curricula and help prepare 
our children for the jobs of the 21st century. Intel has also launched 
two Computer Clubhouses, technology and mentoring programs for youth in 
Albuquerque and Santa Fe.
  While Moore's Law has meant so much to my State and our Nation, we 
need to acknowledge that engineering, computer chips, and information 
technology are about more than our material wealth or our simple 
acquisition of knowledge. Basically, they are about our dreams.
  We have always been a Nation that is defined by the great goals we 
set, the great dreams we dream. We have always been a restless, 
questing people--and with willpower, resources, and great national 
effort, we have always reached our horizons and then set out for new 
ones.
  So on this 40th anniversary of Moore's Law, I want to salute the 
extraordinarily important contributions of Gordon Moore, the Intel 
Corporation, and the many other scientists and engineers who have 
helped us imagine and invent the future.
  In large measure, their contributions have made this new century 
before us so full of promise--molded by science, shaped by technology, 
and powered by knowledge. These potent transforming forces can give us 
lives richer and fuller than we have ever known before.

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