Rep. Swalwell Fights for Pro-Economic Growth Public-Private Partnership at Lawrence Livermore and Sandia National Labs

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Representative Eric Swalwell (CA-15) today sent a letter to Department of Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz advocating for Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), both located in Livermore, to be strongly considered as sites for the Energy Department's pilot program on technology commercialization. The program will help expedite the transfer of technologies from federally funded laboratories to the private sector to bring to the marketplace.

"Lawrence Livermore and Sandia are conducting cutting-edge research in areas from energy to cybersecurity next-door to Silicon Valley, which make them perfect candidates to help advance technology transfer from the public to private sector," said Rep. Swalwell. "This public-private partnership is exactly the type of common sense policy designed to grow our economy that I pledged to support when I came to Congress, and I'm proud to advance this idea now in a way that will help the economy of the Fifteenth Congressional District, the East Bay, and the nation."

The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 authorizes the Secretary of Energy to establish a pilot program at a national laboratory for the purpose of accelerating technology transfer to the marketplace. Already LLNL and SNL are engaged in strong public-private partnerships, such as the Livermore Valley Open Campus. The campus established by the labs houses conference space and collaboration facilities designed to connect industry and laboratory partners to enhance scientific partnerships and economic growth.

The full text of the letter to Department of Energy Secretary Moniz is available here.