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Summary

The America COMPETES Act (P.L. 110-69) became law on August 9, 2007. The act is intended to increase the nations investment in research and development (R&D), and in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. It is designed to focus on two perceived concerns believed to influence future U.S. competitiveness: inadequate R&D funding to generate sufficient technological progress, and inadequate numbers of American students proficient in STEM or interested in STEM careers relative to other countries. The act authorizes funding increases for the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) laboratories, and the Department of Energy Office of Science (DOE SC) over FY2008-FY2010. If maintained, the increases would double the budgets of those entities over seven years. The act establishes the Advanced Research Projects Agency Energy (ARPA-E) within DOE, designed to support transformational energy technology research projects with the goal of enhancing U.S. economic and energy security. A new program, Discovery Science and Engineering Innovation Institutes, would establish multidisciplinary institutes at DOE National Laboratories to apply fundamental science and engineering discoveries to technological innovations, according to the act. Among the acts education activities, many of which are focused on high-need school districts, are programs to recruit new K-12 STEM teachers, enhance existing STEM teacher skills, and provide more STEM education opportunities for students. The new Department of Education (ED) Teachers for a Competitive Tomorrow and existing NSF Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship (Noyce) programs provide opportunities, through institutional grants, for students pursuing STEM degrees and STEM professionals to gain teaching skills and teacher certification, and for current STEM teachers to enhance their teaching skills and understanding of STEM content. The act also authorizes a new program at NSF that would provide grants to create or improve professional science masters degree (PSM) programs that emphasize practical training and preparation for the workforce in high-need fields. The America COMPETES Act is an authorization act. New programs established by the act will not be initiated and authorized increases in appropriations for existing programs will not occur unless funded through subsequent appropriation acts. The 110th Congress provided FY2008 appropriations to establish EDs Teachers for a Competitive Tomorrow program, and NISTs Technology Improvement Program (TIP), which replaced the existing Advanced Technology Program. The 111th Congress provided FY2009 appropriations, supplemented by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), to establish DOEs ARPA-E and NSFs PSM program. Although some America COMPETES Act research and STEM education programs received appropriations at authorized levels in FY2009, others did not. As Congress deliberates the FY2010 budget, an issue for Congress is what level, if any, it will appropriate funds for America COMPETES Act programs. Although the Obama Administration requested FY2010 funding for most America COMPETES Act R&D programs at levels below that authorized, it contends that FY2009 (due to ARRA funding), and if approved as requested, FY2010 appropriations would fund federal R&D programs at the highest levels in U.S. history. Several programs newly authorized in the act have never been appropriated funds and the Obama Administration has not proposed funding them. An issue for these programs is whether or not they will receive the funding necessary to establish them. The America COMPETES Act provides authorization levels only through FY2010.

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