The possibility of a National Nanotechnology Initiative being launched by the Federal government next year was mentioned in the business section of the Monday (Nov. 1) New York Times in an article on molecular computing (that is a follow-up to an article that appeared several months ago describing the Hewlett-Packard/UCLA research).
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/11/biztech/articles/01nano.html
Jim F.