	Overview

The 111 th Congress took continuing interest in the health of the U.S. research and development (R&D) enterprise and in providing sustained support for federal R&D activities. 112-10 ) by the 112 th Congress on April 15, 2011. On February 1, 2010, President Obama requested $147.696 billion for R&D in FY2011, a 0.2% increase over the enacted FY2010 R&D funding level of $147.353 billion. 110-69 ) and President Bush's American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI). President Obama sought to achieve this objective largely through a 6.6% increase in aggregate funding for the Department of Energy Office of Science, the National Science Foundation, and the Department of Commerce National Institute of Standards and Technology's core laboratory research. 110-329 and P.L. 111-8 . Under President Obama's FY2011 budget request, six federal agencies would have received 94.8% of total federal R&D funding: the Department of Defense (DOD), 52.5%; the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) (primarily the National Institutes of Health (NIH)), 21.8%; the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), 7.4%; the Department of Energy (DOE), 7.6%; the National Science Foundation (NSF), 3.8%; and the Department of Agriculture (USDA), 1.7%. In 2007, Congress authorized substantial R&D increases for these agencies under the America COMPETES Act ( P.L. Under President Obama's FY2011 budget request, DOD R&D funding would have been reduced by $3.542 billion, USDA R&D funding would have been cut by $143 million, and DHS R&D would have fallen by $104 million. Three years later, with enacted funding levels for FY2008-FY2010 below those authorized in P.L. FY2011 Appropriations Status

As of the end of the 111 th Congress, no regular appropriations bill had been enacted. Two of the 12 regular appropriations bills had passed the House (the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2011, and the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2011); none had passed the Senate. To provide for continuity of government operations into FY2011, the 111 th and 112 th Congress passed a series of continuing resolutions that provided funding for all agencies until enactment of the Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011 ( P.L. Division A of the act provides FY2011 appropriations for the Department of Defense; Division B provides full-year continuing funding for FY2011 for all other agencies at their FY2010 levels unless other provisions in the act specify otherwise. In the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2009 ( P.L. FY2010 funding was provided in Division D of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010 ( P.L. 111-117 ). The 4.4% increase requested for FY2011 was less than the 7.2% annual growth rate required to achieve a doubling in 10 years. The enacted FY2011 appropriation provided less than the request for each of the six major research programs of the Office of Science. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010 ( P.L. 112-10 ), which included the Department of the Interior and its agencies. The act provided a total of $802.1 million in R&D funding for DOI, $4.1 million (0.5%) more than in FY2010, and $27.1 million (-3.3%) less than the amount requested by the President. President Obama proposed $679.2 million for USGS R&D in FY2011, an increase of $18.6 million (2.8%) above the estimated FY2010 level. 111-188 specified how much of these funds were to be used to fund R&D.
President Obama requested $147.696 billion for research and development (R&D) in FY2011, a $343 million (0.2%) increase from the estimated FY2010 R&D funding level of $147.353 billion. Congress plays a central role in defining the nation's R&D priorities, especially with respect to two overarching issues: the extent to which the federal R&D investment can grow in the context of increased pressure on discretionary spending and how available funding will be prioritized and allocated. Low or negative growth in the overall R&D investment may require movement of resources across disciplines, programs, or agencies to address priorities.
As of the end of the 111th Congress, no regular appropriations bill had been enacted by Congress. Two of the 12 regular appropriations bills had passed the House (the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2011, and the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2011); none had passed the Senate. To provide for continuity of government operations into FY2011, the 111th and 112th Congress passed a series of continuing resolutions that provided funding for all agencies until enactment of the Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011 (P.L. 112-10) on April 15, 2011. Division A of the act provides FY2011 appropriations for the Department of Defense; Division B provides full-year continuing funding for FY2011 for all other agencies at their FY2010 levels unless other provisions in the act specify otherwise
Under the President's request, six federal agencies would have received 94.8% of total federal R&D spending: the Department of Defense (DOD, 52.5%), Department of Health and Human Services (largely the National Institutes of Health) (21.8%), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (7.4%), Department of Energy (7.6%), National Science Foundation (3.8%), and Department of Agriculture (1.7%). NASA would have received the largest dollar increase for R&D of any agency, $1.700 billion (18.3%) above its FY2010 funding level; DOD would have received the largest reduction in R&D funding, $3.542 billion (4.4%) below its FY2010 level.
President Obama requested increases in the R&D budgets of the three agencies that were targeted for doubling in the America COMPETES Act and its reauthorization, and by President Bush under his American Competitiveness Initiative using FY2006 R&D funding as the baseline. The Department of Energy's Office of Science would have received an increase of $226 million (4.6%), the National Science Foundation an increase of $551 million (8.0%), and the National Institute of Standards and Technology's core research and facilities an increase of $48 million (7.3%). P.L. 112-10 provided less than the FY2010 level and less than the President's request for each of these accounts. In aggregate, funding for these accounts under P.L. 112-10 is less than in FY2010 and less than the President's request.
For the past five years, federal R&D funding and execution has been affected by mechanisms used to complete the annual appropriations process—the year-long continuing resolution for FY2007 (P.L. 110-5) and the combining of multiple regular appropriations bills into the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008 for FY2008 (P.L. 110-161), the Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009 (P.L. 111-8), the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010 (P.L. 111-117), and P.L. 112-10. Completion of appropriations after the beginning of each fiscal year may cause agencies to delay or cancel some planned R&D and equipment acquisition.