§ 4621. — Findings.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 15USC4621]
TITLE 15--COMMERCE AND TRADE
CHAPTER 72--SEMICONDUCTOR RESEARCH
SUBCHAPTER II--DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH
EXCELLENCE INITIATIVE
Sec. 4621. Findings
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Semiconductors and related microelectronic devices are key
components in computers, telecommunications equipment, advanced
defense systems, and other equipment.
(2) Aggregate sales of such equipment, in excess of
$230,000,000,000 annually, comprise a significant portion of the
gross national product of the United States.
(3) The leadership position of the United States in advanced
technology is threatened by (A) competition from foreign businesses
which is promoted and facilitated by the increasingly active
involvement of foreign governments, and (B) other changes in the
nature of foreign competition.
(4) The principal cause of the relative shift in strength of the
United States and its semiconductor competitors is the establishment
of a long-term goal by a major foreign competitor to achieve world
superiority in semiconductor research and manufacturing technology
and the pursuit of such goal by that competitor by effectively
marshalling all of the government, industry, and academic resources
needed to achieve that goal.
(5) Although the United States semiconductor industry leads all
other principal United States industries in terms of its
reinvestment in research and development, that has been insufficient
by worldwide standards.
(6) Electronic equipment is essential to protect the national
security of the United States, as is evidenced by the allocation of
approximately 35 percent of the total research, development, and
procurement budgets of the Department of Defense to electronics
research.
(7) The Armed Forces of the United States will eventually depend
extensively on foreign semiconductor technology unless significant
steps are taken, and taken at an early date, to retain United States
leadership in semiconductor technology research.
(8) It is in the interests of the national security and national
economy of the United States for the United States to regain its
traditional world leadership in the field of semiconductors.
(9) The most effective means of regaining that leadership is
through a joint research effort of the Federal Government and
private industry of the United States to improve semiconductor
manufacturing technology and to develop practical uses for such
technology.
(10) In order to meet the national defense needs of the United
States and to insure the continued vitality of a commercial
manufacturing base in the United States, it is essential that
priority be given to the development, demonstration, and advancement
of the semiconductor technology base in the United States.
(11) The national laboratories of the Department of Energy are a
major national research resource, and the extensive involvement of
such laboratories in the semiconductor research initiatives of the
Federal Government and private industry would be an effective use of
such laboratories and would help insure the success of such
initiatives.
(Pub. L. 100-180, div. C, title I, Sec. 3141, Dec. 4, 1987, 101 Stat.
1241.)
