By Porter Wright on Congress returned to DC on Monday 11/15/2010 to begin a "lame duck" session . Congress, in particular the Senate, will find their agendas crowed with debate on several bills that need to be voted on before adjourning sine die sometime in December. Therefore, it seemed a good time to review the status of the bills that … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on In an article in the September issue of Nature ("Nanotechnology: Small wonders"), Corie Lok reviews the beginnings and accomplishments of the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) over the last ten years. The article attributes the creation of the NNI to four factors: – A booming US economy, particularly in the high tech sector – Support from the Clinton … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on The Capital Hill newspaper POLITICO carries an article today discussing how technology related bills awaiting votes in the Senate, including the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act, are stalled due to the Senate’s focusing on the financial reform bill, the upcoming confirmation vote on Elena Kagan to be the next Associate Justice on the US Supreme Court, the upcoming … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Yesterday, in Part I, we examined the status and provisions of bills in the House affecting nanotechnology, nanoindustries, or nanobusiness. Today in Part II, we turn to the Senate. S. 596, the "Nanotechnology Innovation and Prize Competition Act of 2009", was introduced by Senator Ron Wyden (Dem-OR) on 03/16/2009. The bill directs the Secretary of … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Senators Wyden and Snowe introduced S. 596 the Nanotechnology Innovation and Prize Competition Act of 2009 on Monday and it has been assigned to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. According to Senator Wyden’s introductory remarks, the bill would "create an X-Prize competition in nanotechnology". Senator Wyden’s remarks and the text of the … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Earlier today, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed its version of the National Nanotechnology Initiative reauthorization amendments, H.R. 554. The passage was by "voice vote," meaning there is no record of who may have voted for or against the reauthorization. This is the next step towards complete reauthorization of the NNI.… Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Today’s lesson is: never count your chickens before they hatch. You’ll remember a few months back, the House overwhelmingly passed legislation reauthorizing the National Nanotechnology Initiative, and slightly modifying some of the work they do. At the time, I surmised (to myself) that passage through the Senate was likely to be quick. Perhaps not.… Continue Reading
