§ 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.