Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E ... - IEEE-USA

CRS-5
The Homeland Security Act of 2002 (P.L. 107-296) established a Homeland
Security Advanced Research Projects Agency (HSARPA) in the Department of
Homeland Security. 11 According to the act, HSARPA is to “(A) support basic and
applied homeland security research to promote revolutionary changes in technologies
that would promote homeland security; (B) advance the development, testing and
evaluation, and deployment of critical homeland security technologies; and (C)
accelerate the prototyping and deployment of technologies that would address
homeland security vulnerabilities.”
Legislative Origins in the 109 th and 110 th Congress
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Against this historical backdrop, in October 2005, a committee of the NAS
recommended the establishment of ARPA-E in its report Rising Above the Gathering
Storm. 12 In November 2005, during the 109 th Congress, the House Minority Leader
released an innovation agenda that proposed to create a new DARPA-like initiative
within DOE. 13 In 2007, this same concept was part of an updated “Innovation
Agenda” proposed by the Speaker of the House at the beginning of the 110 th
Congress. 14
In the January 2006 State of the Union address, President Bush announced the
American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI), the Administration’s response to the
concerns about U.S. competitiveness that were similar to those expressed in the
America COMPETES Act. Instead of endorsing the ARPA-E concept, however, the
Administration proposed an Advanced Energy Initiative (AEI). The Administration
has continued its support for the ACI and the AEI into the 110 th Congress. 15
Although some analysts questioned whether ARPA-E was the best policy option
to respond to the nation’s energy challenges, 16 the proposal recommended in the NAS
report became the basis for congressional hearings and debates in the 109 th and 110 th
11
For more information on HSARPA, see CRS Report RL34356, The DHS Directorate of
Science and Technology: Key Issues for Congress, by Dana A. Shea and Daniel Morgan.
12
The National Academies, Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing
America for a Brighter Economic Future (Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 2007),
p. 154. This report was initially released in pre-publication form in October 2005.
13
U.S. Congress, Office of Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, “Pelosi: Unveils Innovation
Agenda, Part of Vision for a Stronger America,” press release, November 15, 2005, at
[http://www.house.gov/pelosi/press/releases/Nov05/innovation.html].
14
U.S. Congress, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, The Innovation Agenda: 110 th Congress at
[http://www.speaker.gov/issues?id=0016], April 27, 2007.
15
U.S. President (G.W. Bush), American Competitiveness Initiative, Domestic Policy
Council/Office of Science and Technology Policy, February 2006, at [http://www.ostp.gov/
pdf/acibooklet.pdf]; Advanced Energy Initiative, National Economic Council, February 2006
at [http://www.whitehouse.gov/stateoftheunion/2006/energy/energy_booklet.pdf]; and
“Advanced Energy Initiative 2008” at [http://www.ostp.gov/pdf/fy08_aei_one_pager.pdf]
and “Energy Security for the 21 st Century” at [http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/energy/].
16
See for example, David Goldston, “Misspent Energy,” Nature, 447:130, May 10, 2007 at
[http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v447/n7141/pdf/447130a.pdf].