Congress of the United States
Date of this Version
2007
Abstract
The Advanced Technology Program (ATP) was created by P.L. 100-418, the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988, to encourage public-private cooperation in the development of pre-competitive technologies with broad application across industries. Administered by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a laboratory of the Department of Commerce, this activity has been targeted for elimination as a means to cut federal spending. Since FY2000, the original Housepassed appropriation bills have not included funding for ATP. Many of the Administration’s budget requests have proposed termination of the program. However, ATP continues to be supported, although at levels below that achieved in FY1995 when the activity was expanded significantly. The FY2005 appropriations were 20% lower than the earlier fiscal year. For FY2006, both the Administration’s budget proposal and the original House-passed version of the appropriations bill, contained no funding for ATP although P.L. 109-108, the final FY2006 appropriation legislation, financed the program at $79 million, 42% below the previous fiscal year (after a mandated rescission). The Administration’s FY2007 budget request again did not include funding for ATP, nor did the appropriation bill passed by the House and reported by the Senate Committee on Appropriations in the previous Congress. While no final FY2007 appropriations legislation was enacted during the 109th Congress, a series of continuing resolutions financed ATP at FY2006 levels through February 15, 2007. In the current Congress, P.L. 110-5 provides the program $79 million for FY2007. The President’s FY2008 budget request contains no funding for ATP. This report will be updated as events warrant.
Comments
Published by Congressional Research Service, 95-36, www.crs.gov, (2007)