	Introduction

Changing economic, social, and political conditions at home and abroad have led some analysts to question whether the United States will remain globally competitive in the coming decades. The 2007 America COMPETES Act ( P.L. Designed to "invest in innovation through research and development, and to improve the competitiveness of the United States," the law authorized $32.7 billion in appropriations between FY2008 and FY2010 for programs and activities in physical sciences and engineering research and in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. 110-69 —including funding for physical sciences and engineering research and STEM education—when it passed the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 ( P.L. 111-358 ). The 2010 COMPETES Act authorized $45.5 billion in appropriations between FY2011 and FY2013. Given the pivotal role that funding levels played in the design, implementation, and congressional debate about the COMPETES Acts, policymakers have paid close attention to trends in these accounts. This report, which was written to aid Congress in tracking these trends, includes two tables summarizing authorization levels and funding for selected COMPETES-related accounts across both authorization periods (i.e., FY2008 to FY2010 and FY2011 to FY2013).
Changing economic, social, and political conditions at home and abroad have led some analysts to question whether the United States will remain globally competitive in the coming decades. In response to these and closely related concerns, Congress enacted the 2007 America COMPETES Act (P.L. 110-69), as well as its successor, the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-358). These acts were broadly designed to invest in innovation through research and development and to improve U.S. competitiveness. More specifically, the acts authorized increased funding for certain physical science and engineering research accounts and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education activities.
Congressional debate about the COMPETES Acts focuses closely on authorized and appropriated funding levels. To aid this debate, this CRS report tracks accounts and activities authorized by the 2007 and 2010 COMPETES Acts during each act's authorization period. It includes only those accounts and activities for which the acts provide a defined (i.e., specific) appropriations authorization. Table 1 includes FY2008 to FY2010 authorizations and final funding for accounts in the 2007 COMPETES Act; Table 2 includes FY2011 to FY2013 authorizations and final funding for accounts in the 2010 COMPETES Act.