The NanoBusiness Alliance is pleased to report that the House Science and Technology Committee yesterday unanimously reported H.R. 5940, the National Nanotechnology Initiative Amendments Act, which will update and expand the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI). Committee Chairman Bart Gordon (D-TN), who addressed the NanoBusiness 2008 conference in New York on Monday, recognized the NanoBusiness Alliance for its support of the bill during the Committee markup.

The Alliance has worked closely with Chairman Gordon, Ranking Member Ralph Hall (R-TX), and the members and staff of the Committee to ensure that the bill moves the federal nanotechnology effort to the next stage: one that helps America realize the benefits of nanotechnology through increased support for commercialization; generates a nanotechnology workforce by improving science education; and advances our understanding of environmental, health, and safety effects through increased research in these areas.

In his own remarks to the NanoBusiness 2008 conference, Senate Science, Technology, and Innovation Subcommittee Chairman John Kerry (D-MA) committed to moving NNI legislation forward in Senate side as well.

Assisted by its public policy counsel, K&L Gates, the NanoBusiness Alliance has participated extensively in discussions with Members and staff in both the House and the Senate in the course of developing this legislation. In March, dozens of leaders from Alliance member companies visited Washington DC for meetings with key decision makers in Congress and the Administration. I have testified on the bill in hearings before the House Science and Technology Committee, and other members of the nanobusiness community have testified as well.

The Alliance will continue to need your support for this important legislation as it moves through the House and Senate. We are successful because the nanobusiness community is engaged and active.

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