The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives are poised to add billions of dollars to the fiscal year 2008 research and development (R&D) budget, with much of the proposed new funding targeted for environmental, energy and biomedical initiatives, according to a new report by the R&D Budget and Policy Program of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Congressional appropriations measures also propose to meet or exceed President George W. Bush's spending plans for physical sciences research in the American Competitiveness Initiative and for dramatic expansion of spending to develop new craft for human space exploration, says Kei Koizumi, the program's director, in a report posted online on 6 August.

The report, updating congressional action on R&D budgets as Congress began its August recess, is available at http://www.aaas.org/spp/rd/upd807.htm.

Full press release from EurekAlert.