(NIST: Washington) -- President Barack Obama’s fiscal year (FY) 2011 budget submitted today to Congress for the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) proposes a funding level of $918.9 million, a 7.3-percent increase over the FY 2010 appropriations for the agency.

The budget reflects Commerce Secretary Gary Locke’s commitment to fostering innovation to both create jobs and enhance the long-term competitiveness of the U.S. economy. At the same time, the President’s budget makes difficult choices and puts the nation back on the path to fiscal responsibility. While ending programs that don’t work, streamlining those that do, cracking down on special interest access, and bringing a new responsibility to how tax dollars are spent, President Obama’s budget makes critical investments in the key areas that will help to reverse the decline in economic security that American families have experienced during the past decade with investments in education, clean energy, infrastructure, and innovation.

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