Since the 1945 publication of Vannevar Bush’s Science—The Endless Frontier, the federal government has played the predominant role in supporting research and development (R&D) and in establishing public policies that affect science and technology (S&T) in the United States. That role remains vitally important today. Almost every major policy issue is influenced by scientific and technological information and expertise. There remains a clear and ongoing mandate for a cohesive set of federal policy and programs that both sustain R&D and promote the application of new knowledge
