Industry applauds National Science Foundation doubling budget

DECEMBER 19--The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA; San Jose, CA;www.sia-online.org) has lauded President Bush's signing of a bill to double the US National Science Foundation (NSF) budget by 2007. The drive to double federal science and technology funding dates back five years to 1997 to a concerted effort among House and Senate leaders to assure increased support for basic research at the nation's universities and continuing innovation at the precompetitive level.

"Continuing innovation in microelectronics requires increased funding in such fields as physics, material sciences, and nanotechnology," SIA president George Scalise stated. "The industry applauds the leadership shown in the House and Senate, especially early work on the bill by Senators Phil Gramm (R-TX), Joe Lieberman (D-CT), and Bill Frist (R-TN), and efforts to secure the bill's final passage by Senators Kit Bond (R-MO) and Barbara Milkulski (D-MD), and Representatives Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY), Ralph Hall (D-TX), and Nick Smith (R-MI)."

H.R. 4664, the NSF Authorization Act of 2002, signed into law by President Bush on December 19, 2002, authorizes NSF spending increases of 13.1% to 15.5% over each of the next five years and specific 2003 allocations for technology research ($704 million), nanoscale science and engineering ($301 million), education and human resources ($1,006 million), and major research equipment ($172 million). The next step in the legislative process is for Congress to approve agency appropriations.