May 10, 2006 – SEMI has bestowed its 2006 North American Government Leadership award to Representative Anna Eshoo (D-CA), praising her strong support on issues important to SEMI members and the nation’s high-tech community.

Working with the House Democrat Innovation Agenda, Eshoo has championed policies that invest in education, research and development, and innovation, including SEMI’s High-Tech U. program. She introduced legislation designed to strengthen control of spam e-mail, and led early efforts to sponsor legislation to require stock options to be deducted from a company’s earnings. She was the lead Democrat on a bipartisan stock-option bill that passed in the House but stalled in the Senate, before the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) finalized its own mandatory stock options expensing standard.

“We are grateful for Representative Eshoo’s support of the SEMI Foundation’s High Tech University program, which is fundamental in helping to fill the pipeline of students with advanced degrees in math, science and engineering,” stated Victoria Hadfield, president of SEMI North America. “We also appreciate her support of the Focus Center Research Program, which is a joint initiative by government and industry to fund basic research at US universities.”

The SEMI North American Government Leadership Award recognizes US policymakers who have demonstrated outstanding leadership on issues and policies that advance the development and growth of the US microelectronics equipment and materials industry. Recipients are selected by the SEMI North American Advisory Board, and announced in conjunction with SEMI’s annual Washington Forum in Washington, DC.