
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
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[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 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.)
