Jim Sensenbrenner: “in the past two decades, Congress has established a system to transfer unclassified technology from our Federal…”

“in the past two decades, Congress has established a system to transfer unclassified technology from our Federal laboratories to the private sector in order to facilitate its commercialization. This system is designed to ensure U.S. citizens receive the full benefit from our government's investment in research and development. To help further these goals, the Committee on Science first reported the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980. The committee expanded on that landmark legislation with the passage of the Federal Technology Transfer Act of 1986, the National Competitive Technology Transfer Act of 1989, the American Technology Preeminence Act of 1991 and the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995, among others. Technology transfer has resulted in products which are currently being used to enhance our quality of life. Examples include the AIDS home testing kit, the global positioning system nautical navigation, and new materials technology to make automobiles lighter and more fuel-efficient. H.R. 2544 continues the Committee on Science's long and rich history of advancing technology transfer to help boost our Nation's standard of living. I congratulate the Chair of the Subcommittee on Technology, the gentlewoman from Maryland (Mrs. Morella), for introducing H.R. 2544, and for her efforts to work cooperatively with members of the minority and the administration to craft this bipartisan bill.”