Today I introduced the NANO Act, a comprehensive bill to promote the development and responsible stewardship of nanotechnology in the United States. The legislation draws upon the recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Task Force on Nanotechnology, a panel of California nanotechnology experts with backgrounds in established industry, startup companies, consulting groups, non-profits, academia, government, medical research, and venture capital that I convened with then-California State Controller Steve Westly during 2005. Nanotechnology has the potential to create entirely new industries and radically transform the basis of competition in other fields, and I am proud of my work with former Science Committee Chairman Sherwood Boehlert on the Nanotechnology Research and Development Act of 2003 to foster research in this area. But one of the things policymakers have heard from experts is that while the United States is a leader in nanotechnology research, our foreign competitors are focusing more resources and effort on the commercialization of those research results than we are. In its report Thinking Big About Thinking Small, the Blue Ribbon Task Force on Nanotechnology made a series of recommendations for ways that the nation can promote the development and commercialization of nanotechnology, a number of which are included in the NANO Act.

• create a public-private investment partnership to address the nanotechnology commercialization gap
• establish a tax credit for investment in nanotechnology firms
• authorize a grant program to support the establishment and development of nanotechnology incubators
• establish a Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center for “nano-CAD” tools
• establish grant programs for nanotechnology research to address specific challenges in the areas of energy, environment, homeland security, and health
• establish a tax credit for nanotechnology education and training program expenses
• establish a grant program to support the development of curriculum materials for interdisciplinary nanotechnology courses at higher education institutions
• direct NSF to establish a program to encourage manufacturing companies to enter into partnerships with occupational training centers for the development of training to support nanotechnology manufacturing
• call for the development of a strategy for increasing interaction on nanotechnology interests between DOE national labs and the informal science education community.

I look forward to working with my colleagues on the Science and Technology Committee to incorporate these provisions as we work to reauthorize the nation’s nanotechnology research and development program.