IB 
Union Calendar No. 48
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 766
[Report No. 108–89] 
To provide for a National Nanotechnology Research and Development 
Program, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 13, 2003
Mr. BOEHLERT (for himself, Mr. HONDA, Mr. EHLERS, Mr. HALL, Mr. 
SMITH of Michigan, Mr. GORDON, Mrs. BIGGERT, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE 
JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. 
GUTKNECHT, and Mr. BISHOP of New York) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Science 
MAY 6, 2003
Additional sponsors: Mr. ETHERIDGE, Ms. HART, Mr. WELDON of Pennsyl-
vania, Mr. BELL, Mr. WATT, Mr. FILNER, Mr. DAVIS of Tennessee, Ms. 
JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. JOHNSON of Illinois, Mr. BURGESS, Mr. 
LATHAM, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. WU, Mr. SESSIONS, and Mr. HOLT 
MAY 6, 2003
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on February 13, 2003] 
A BILL 
To provide for a National Nanotechnology Research and 
Development Program, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Nanotechnology Re-
search and Development Act of 2003’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act—
(1) the term ‘‘advanced technology user facility’’ 
means a nanotechnology research and development fa-
cility supported, in whole or in part, by Federal 
funds that is open to all United States researchers on 
a competitive, merit-reviewed basis; 
(2) the term ‘‘Advisory Committee’’ means the 
advisory committee established or designated under 
section 5; 
(3) the term ‘‘Director’’ means the Director of the 
Office of Science and Technology Policy; 
(4) the term ‘‘Interagency Committee’’ means the 
interagency committee established under section 3(c); 
(5) the term ‘‘nanotechnology’’ means science 
and engineering aimed at creating materials, devices, 
and systems at the atomic and molecular level; 
(6) the term ‘‘Program’’ means the National 
Nanotechnology Research and Development Program 
described in section 3; and
(7) the term ‘‘program component area’’ means 
a major subject area established under section 3(c)(2) 
under which is grouped related individual projects 
and activities carried out under the Program. 
SEC. 3. NATIONAL NANOTECHNOLOGY RESEARCH AND DE-
VELOPMENT PROGRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall implement a 
National Nanotechnology Research and Development Pro-
gram to promote Federal nanotechnology research, develop-
ment, demonstration, education, technology transfer, and 
commercial application activities as necessary to ensure 
continued United States leadership in nanotechnology re-
search and development and to ensure effective coordination 
of nanotechnology research and development across Federal 
agencies. 
(b) PROGRAM ACTIVITIES.—The activities of the Pro-
gram shall be designed to—
(1) provide sustained support for nanotechnology 
research and development through—
(A) grants to individual investigators and 
interdisciplinary teams of investigators; 
(B) establishment of advanced technology 
user facilities; and 
(C) establishment of interdisciplinary re-
search centers, which shall—
(i) network with each other to foster 
the exchange of technical information and 
best practices; 
(ii) involve academic institutions or 
national laboratories and other partners, 
which may include States and industry; 
(iii) make use of existing expertise in 
nanotechnology in their regions and nation-
ally; 
(iv) make use of ongoing research and 
development at the micrometer scale to sup-
port their work in nanotechnology; and 
(v) be capable of accelerating the com-
mercial application of nanotechnology inno-
vations in the private sector; 
(2) ensure that solicitation and evaluation of 
proposals under the Program encourage interdiscipli-
nary research; 
(3) expand education and training of under-
graduate and graduate students in interdisciplinary 
nanotechnology science and engineering; 
(4) accelerate the commercial application of 
nanotechnology innovations in the private sector; 
(5) ensure that societal and ethical concerns, in-
cluding environmental concerns and the potential im-
plications of human performance enhancement and 
the possible development of nonhuman intelligence, 
will be addressed as the technology is developed by—
(A) establishing a research program to iden-
tify societal and ethical concerns related to 
nanotechnology, and ensuring that the results of 
such research are widely disseminated; 
(B) insofar as possible, integrating research 
on 
societal 
and 
ethical 
concerns 
with 
nanotechnology research and development, and 
ensuring that advances in nanotechnology bring 
about improvements in quality of life for all 
Americans; and 
(C) requiring that interdisciplinary re-
search centers under paragraph (1)(C) include 
activities that address societal and ethical con-
cerns; and 
(6) include to the maximum extent practicable 
diverse institutions, including Historically Black Col-
leges and Universities and those serving large propor-
tions of Hispanics, Native Americans, Asian-Pacific 
Americans, or other underrepresented populations. 
(c) INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE.—The President shall 
establish or designate an interagency committee on 
nanotechnology research and development, which shall in-
clude representatives from the Office of Science and Tech-
nology Policy, the National Science Foundation, the De-
partment of Energy, the National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration, the National Institute of Standards and 
Technology, the Environmental Protection Agency, and any 
other agency that the President may designate. The Director 
shall select a chairperson from among the members of the 
Interagency Committee. The Interagency Committee, which 
shall also include a representative from the Office of Man-
agement and Budget, shall oversee the planning, manage-
ment, and coordination of the Program. The Interagency 
Committee shall—
(1) establish goals and priorities for the Pro-
gram; 
(2) establish program component areas, with spe-
cific priorities and technical goals, that reflect the 
goals and priorities established for the Program; 
(3) develop, within 6 months after the date of en-
actment of this Act, and update annually, a strategic 
plan to meet the goals and priorities established 
under paragraph (1) and to guide the activities of the 
program component areas established under para-
graph (2); 
(4) propose a coordinated interagency budget for 
the Program that will ensure the maintenance of a