WASHINGTON, May 1, 2003 — A nanotechnology bill that lawmakers have been fussing with for more than a year was approved Thursday by the House Science Committee, but not before politicians festooned the bill with new initiatives, including one to study the implications of developing “nonhuman intelligence.”
The Nanotechnology Research and Development Act of 2003 is now set for debate next week in the full House of Representatives. An approximation of the House bill is also being debated in the Senate. Lawmakers in the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Technology listened Thursday to testimony from industry executives, scientists and government officials about the bill.
If both houses of Congress pass their respective bills, representatives from the two bodies will meet to work out the differences and send a final bill to President Bush. The White House reportedly supports the bill and lawmakers are moving to pass it before Congress’ annual August recess.
 |
Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, R-N.Y., chairman of the House Science Committee and the bill’s primary sponsor, said the legislation “will bolster our economy as well as add to our storehouse of knowledge.”
The bill would authorize spending $2.36 billion over three years for nanotechnology programs at a range of government agencies. It does not address the Department of Defense, which is second only to the National Science Foundation in dollars spent on nanotechnology research. The Defense Department’s nanotechnology budget is handled in a separate bill.
The bill would establish a permanent home for nanotechnology research and development within the federal government, setting up a formal structure for coordination of research across agencies. It would also set up a presidential advisory committee on nanotechnology through the White House.
Among the amendments that were added Thursday:
- A requirement that interdisciplinary research centers exchange information, partner with states and industry, and accelerate commercialization;
- Creation of new science and technology graduate scholarships for programs addressing nanotechnology;
- Language ensuring that research programs will include colleges and universities that serve minorities;
- Clarifications that research on societal and ethical concerns includes the study of environmental implications and the implications of possible development of “nonhuman intelligence.”
Rep. Brad Sherman sponsored the amendment on nonhuman intelligence. The California Democrat tried to attach an amendment to the bill that would force the government to spend 5 percent of its nanotechnology research budget on analysis of the societal and ethical implications of nanotechnology research and development.
Nanotechnology “is every bit as explosive as nuclear technology and it behooves us to look at the social implications before the science puts forward all of these new possibilities,” he said.
Sherman was particularly animated about the topic during a House Science Committee hearing last month, and he again talked at length about the need for significant government backing of research into nanotech’s impact on society. Some members of the committee supported Sherman’s 5-percent amendment, but not enough. It was voted down after spirited back-and-forth between lawmakers about the wisdom of setting an amount the government will spend.
In the Senate, a range of different officials and experts testified about nanotechnology’s promise and the need for a comprehensive bill that would give federal nanotechnology research and development a permanent home in the government.
Sen. George Allen, R-VA, chairman of the Commerce Committee’s Science, Space and Technology subcommittee, sponsored the Senate bill and along with Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., is shouldering it through that body.
The Senate has not yet set a time for a vote on the bill.