Ralph Hall: “I rise today, of course, in support of H.R. 554, the National Nanotechnology Initiative Amendments of 2009. This…”

“I rise today, of course, in support of H.R. 554, the National Nanotechnology Initiative Amendments of 2009. This initiative was first named in the 2001 budget request, and it was made a priority by the previous administration. Last year, we created a necessary and responsible reauthorization bill for this important program. The House took an already good statute and improved it just a bit to streamline some administrative issues and to ensure that areas such as nanomanufacturing, education and environmental health and safety are adequately recognized. Unfortunately, the Senate did not act on it prior to adjournment, so we will try it again with the same bill this year. Just what is 'nanotechnology,' and why is it important? Well, according to the NNI Web site, 'Encompassing nanoscale science, engineering and technology, nanotechnology involves imaging, measuring, modeling, and manipulating matter . . . at dimensions between 1 and 100 nanometers.' Now, a nanometer is one-billionth of a meter. To put it into perspective, this piece of paper that I am reading from is 100,000-nanometers thick. It is 100,000 nanometers. The fact that our scientists and engineers can create and manipulate matter on that small of a scale to be used in electronic, biomedical, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, energy, catalytic, and materials applications is mind boggling. It is the kind of research and technology that makes the United States the leader in innovation.”