Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions S182

STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

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, nano tech nol ogy has become a reality in the lives of many Americans. While there is tremendous potential for further study in this field, nano tech nol ogy's current impacts range from the pedestrian to the extraordinary. A TV commercial demonstrates the practicality of nano tech nol ogy 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.

I was pleased that my colleagues in the Commerce Committee in the last Congress recognized the tremendous potential of nano tech nol ogy and passed this bill out of committee with unanimous bipartisan support. Nano tech nol ogy 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 nano tech nol ogy 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 nano tech nol ogy. At present, efforts in the nano tech nol ogy field are strewn across a half-dozen Federal agencies. I want America to marshal its various nano tech nol ogy 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 nano tech nol ogy research, development, and education. In my view, there are three major steps America must take to ensure the highest success for its nano tech nol ogy efforts.

First, a National nano tech nol ogy 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 nano tech nol ogy, 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 nano tech nol ogy 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 nano tech nol ogy. 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 nano tech nol ogy efforts. These could include a national steering office, and a Presidential nano tech nol ogy 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 nano tech nol ogy 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 nano tech nol ogy efforts through a series of benchmarking studies.

If the Federal Government fails to get behind nano tech nol ogy 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. Nano tech nol ogy 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 nano tech nol ogy. 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 nano tech nol ogy 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 nano tech nol ogy 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. nano tech nol ogy 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 nano tech nol ogy. With much of nano tech nol ogy existing in a research milieu, venture capitalists are already investing $1 billion in American nanotech interests this year alone. It's estimated that nano tech nol ogy will become a trillion-dollar industry over the next 10 years. As nano tech nol ogy grows, the ranks of skilled workers needed to discover and apply its capabilities must grow too. In the nano tech nol ogy revolution, areas of high unemployment could become magnets for domestic production, engineering and research for nano tech nol ogy applications—but only if government doesn't miss the boat.

Our country's National Nano tech nol ogy Initiative is a step in the right direction. This Nation has already committed substantial funds to nano tech nol ogy 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 nano tech nol ogy'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.