What about ARPA-E Q?

DARPA <DOD>

ARPA-E <DOE>

ARPA-E

In 2005, leaders from both parties in Congress asked the National Academies (link is external) to "identify the most urgent challenges the U.S. faces in maintaining leadership in key areas of science and technology," as well as specific steps policymakers could take to help the U.S. compete, prosper, and stay secure in the 21st Century.

In its report for Congress, Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future (link is external), the National Academies called for decisive action, warning policymakers that U.S. advantages in science and technology–which made the country a world leader for decades–had already begun to erode.

The report recommended that Congress establish an Advanced Research Projects Agency within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) modeled after the successful Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)–the agency credited with such innovations as GPS, the stealth fighter, and computer networking.

In 2007, Congress passed and President George W. Bush signed into law The America COMPETES Act, which officially authorized ARPA-E's creation. In 2009, ARPA-E received its first appropriations of $400 million, which funded ARPA-E's first projects.

From Executive Summary Page 3 of "Rising Above the Gathering Storm":

… "CEOs Defend Moving Jobs Offshore at Tech Summit." InfoWorld, October 9, 2003; Bruce Mehlman.

Page 4:

… Although the US economy is doing well today, current trends in each of those criteria indicate that the United States may not fare as well in the future without government intervention. This nation must prepare with great urgency to preserve its strategic and economic security.

Page 13:

… For the first time in generations, the nation's children could face poorer prospects than their parents and grandparents did. We owe our current prosperity, security, and good health to the investments of past generations, and we are obliged to renew those commitments in education, research, and innovation policies to ensure that the American people continue to benefit from the remarkable opportunities provided by the rapid development of the global economy and its not inconsiderable underpinning in science and technology.