For many years, Senator Rockefeller has been a national leader for the EPSCoR program, an initiative to ensure that underserved states like West Virginia get a fair chance and a better share of federal grants from top federal scientific agencies.  When established by Congress in 1978, EPSCoR operated solely at the National Science Foundation; however, EPSCoR-like programs now exist at six other agencies, including NASA, the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, National Institutes of Health, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.  Since 2000, West Virginia has received nearly $140 million in NSF EPSCoR, NASA EPSCoR, and NIH’s Institutional Development (IDeA) grants.  West Virginia is using these funds to build research capacity to compete in federal S&T competitions.  In 2010, West Virginia received a $20 million NSF EPSCoR grant — the largest in the State's history — to help develop the State's bionanotechnolocgy-related infrastructure.  Continuation of EPSCoR as part of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 provides certainty for ongoing state research investments and opportunities for innovation and job creation.