Despite coming under attack by congressional Republicans, federal science funding has received a major and mostly overlooked boost.

The America Competes Act, passed by Congress shortly before Christmas, calls for $46 billion in science and technology research funding over the next three years.

Final approval awaits the signature of President Barack Obama, who in a recent speech framed the need for continued research support.

"Our generation's Sputnik moment is back," he said, referring to the 1957 Soviet satellite launch that catalyzed the U.S. space program and accelerated the development of American technology.

The act was overshadowed by the Democrats' other legislative victories after midterm election losses and the successful Republican defense of tax cuts for the wealthy.

Legislation on gays in the military, food safety, health care for 9/11 first responders and additional economic stimulus spending all had higher profiles than science funding, leaving the passage of America Competes remarked mostly by press releases and trade publications.

As Eli Kintisch noted for ScienceInsider, President Obama declined to mention the act during the week before Christmas. That omission may signal trouble, as passage of the act doesn't guarantee its funding.

In January and February, Congress will decide how much money will actually be spent on it. House Republicans have made the National Science Foundation a symbol of wasteful spending, so America Competes may still lose.

It fell to Presidential science advisor John Holdren to celebrate the act's passage on the White House blog.

"Full funding of the Competes Act is among the most important things that Congress can do to ensure America’s continued leadership in the decades ahead," he wrote.

The act calls for a total of $7.4 billion above 2010 funding levels, directed towards a host of agencies including the Department of Energy, the National Institute for Science and Technology, and the National Science Foundation. It shifts funding away from basic research and towards applications, and calls for regular X-Prize-style competitions to solve engineering problems.

The act is rooted in a 2005 National Academies report, "Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America," and its sequel released in September.

America's "vitality is derived in large part from the production of well-trained people and the steady stream of scientific and technical innovations they produce," concluded the first report. "Without a renewed effort to bolster the foundations of our competitiveness, we can expect to lose our privileged position,” warned the latter.

During its crafting in congressional committee last spring, America Competes received bipartisan support. It was held up, however, by Representative Ralph Hall (R-Texas), formerly the ranking Republican member of the House Committee on Science and Technology.

Hall's objections failed to stop the act, but he is now the science committee's incoming chair.

Image: Replica of Sputnik 1./Wikimedia Commons.

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