SAN JOSE, Calif. – December 19, 2002– The SIA today lauded President Bush’s signing of a bill to double the National Science Foundation’s budget by the year 2007. The drive to double federal science and technology funding dates back five years to 1997 and 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 pre-competitive level.

“This bill, which authorizes a 15% increase in NSF funding in FY 2003, and doubles support by 2007, reflects a renewed national commitment to advances in basic science and technology that propel our nation’s economic growth, productivity acceleration, and innovation”, stated SIA President George Scalise. “Just as the doubling of federal support for the life sciences helped insure continuing advances in human health, increased federal funding for basic sciences and math will now assure a brighter economic future through discoveries we need to stay at the forefront of technology development,” Scalise noted.

Most of the productivity gains in the U.S. economy in the late 1990’s were made possible by advances in semiconductor technology, including a 99% decline in the price of a bit of memory and a tenfold acceleration in microprocessor speeds. Continued advances will make possible affordable broadband, and benefits of new, advanced applications in telemedicine, telework, telelearning and the war on terrorism. The semiconductor industry relies on constant innovation to remain the engine for productivity growth, but is beginning to reach the physical limits of the materials advances and process improvements it has relied on for the past 30 years. Finding solutions to these challenges will require increased understanding of the fundamental device physics and properties of materials, and breakthrough solutions to technical problems, which come from long-term, pre-competitive, university-based research.

“Continuing innovation in microelectronics requires increased funding in such fields as physics, material sciences, and nanotechnology” 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 National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2002, signed into law by President Bush at a White House ceremony 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.

The bill also supports initiatives for secondary school reform and improved student performance in math and science, expanded university efforts to attract higher numbers and quality of undergraduate students to scientific fields, and programs to increase the number of minority students successfully pursuing science and math degrees.

The SIA particularly lauded three key programs: Mathematics and Science Education Partnerships among universities and non-profit institutions to improve K-12 science and math instruction; the Robert Noyce Scholarship Program, offering grants to institutions of higher learning to encourage students in science, math and engineering to pursue K-12 teaching careers; and The Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology Talent Expansion Program, offering grants to increase the number of university students completing degrees in these fields, especially those that have faced declining enrollments in recent years.

About the SIA
The SIA is the leading voice for the semiconductor industry and has represented U.S.-based manufacturers since 1977. SIA member companies comprise more than 90% of U.S.-based semiconductor production. Collectively, the chip industry employs a domestic workforce of 284,000 people. More information about the SIA can be found at www.sia-online.org.