Jeff Bingaman: “That is a sad statement because I can remember a decade ago when the United States was the unrivaled leader in high-end…”

“That is a sad statement because I can remember a decade ago when the United States was the unrivaled leader in high-end computing. We need to do much better in this field. Senator Lamar Alexander and I have introduced the High-End Computing Revitalization Act. I hope that the leadership in the Senate will see fit to move this legislation this year, and that we will receive strong support from our colleagues. Nanotechnology is another area. Although Congress passed a nanotechnology bill last year, and the President signed the bill with great fanfare, the truth is, we are not putting the needed funding into it. The administration has not requested sufficient funding. We are not committing the money. This is another major shortfall. The next specific area I believe we need to target is next-generation lighting. I have spoken several times about that on the Senate floor. Semiconductor lighting has the promise to greatly increase the efficiency of lighting devices and also to create an enormous number of jobs. The estimate is this will be a $12 billion per year industry for these devices in the future. The question is, where will the leadership be in developing these devices? Will we maintain some of that leadership in this country? And where will the high-wage jobs be created by this? I hope those jobs will be created in the United States, but Congress needs to act to ensure that.”