[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 6]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 8368]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           COMMEMORATING THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF MOORE'S LAW

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. ZOE LOFGREN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 28, 2005

  Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay 
tribute to a great American mind, who forty years ago this month made a 
prediction about integrated circuits that has driven the pace of 
innovation, helped make the U.S. the world's technological leader and 
brought endless benefits to consumers, businesses and economies in my 
district and around the world.
  In April of 1965, Gordon Moore, a young engineer with Fairchild 
Semiconductor, postulated that the number of transistors on a chip 
would double at a regular interval without any additional cost 
increase. Essentially, he predicted that computer chips would double in 
power every 18 months. Forty years later, Moore's Law, as it has come 
to be known, has helped drive innovation at leading American companies 
like Intel Corporation, which Gordon helped found.
  Even the most enterprising minds of 1965 could not have imagined that 
computers the size of a refrigerator would one day fit in the palm of 
our hands. Or that a children's toy would pack four times as much 
processing power as an Apollo moon lander.
  These mind-blowing developments have led to advances in virtually 
every industry and aspect of our lives. Consider that families and 
friends can now send messages and share photos instantly, even from 
thousands of miles away. Doctors can now diagnose patients in other 
countries and get instantaneous access to the latest treatment options.
  The drive towards maintaining Moore's law has kept Intel and the rest 
of the U.S. technology industry at the forefront of this innovation. 
The premise of Moore's Law dictates that computer power essentially 
improves for free, bringing increases in productivity unprecedented 
since the Industrial Revolution.
  As a result, consumers get more for less and our economy benefits. 
Since 1995, information technology industries have accounted for 25 
percent of overall U.S. economic growth while making up only 3 percent 
of the gross domestic product. This means that technological advances 
are the key to growing our economy.
  In my home of Silicon Valley, we are proud to be part of the drive to 
keep pace with Moore's Law. I rise today to commemorate Gordon's 
contributions to our economy and to our world.

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