On April 02, 2013 President Obama proposed a $100 million investment into research to map the human brain.

The white house is calling it the BRAIN Initiative, short for Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies .The goal of the initiative is find new ways to treat, cure, and even prevent brain disorders, like Alzheimers disease, epilepsy, and traumatic brain injuries. The white house hopes to build on the Presidents State of the Union call for historic investments in research and development to fuel the innovation, job creation, and economic growth that together create a thriving middle class with this BRIAN initiative. We cant afford to miss these opportunities while the rest of the world races ahead. We have to seize them. I dont want the next job-creating discoveries to happen in China or India or Germany. I want them to happen right here, in the United States of America, said President Obama Building knowledge of the brain is not the only goal of the president, but part of a bigger picture. Its one of the Grand Challenges of the 21st century presented by the Obama administration. The Grand Challenges are goals that require advances in science and technology to accomplish. In addition to improvement in other advances the pursuit of Grand Challenges can create the jobs and industries of the future, according to the white house. This is something middle class Americans can be excited to get behind. Especially since 2010, the long-term unemployed accounted for 4.2 percent of the work force according to the New York Times. Funding for this project will be provided by three federal agencies .These governmental agencies will include National Institutes of Health, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the National Science Foundation, the New York Times. In Washington, attention has been on cliffs, debt ceilings and budgets, on deadlines and negotiations. The House Republican Majority stands ready for President Obama and his party to finally join in efforts to tackle the big problems facing America. Over the next two years, the House Majority will pursue an agenda based on a shared vision of creating the conditions for health, happiness, and prosperity for more Americans and their families. Their goal is to ensure every American has a fair shot at earning their success and achieving their dreams. - American Enterprise Institute Despite ongoing debates and talk about the federal deficit the investment has the support of House majority Leader Eric Cantor. Business Insider reports "Mapping the human brain is exactly the type of research we should be funding, by reprioritizing the $250 million we currently spend on political and social science research into expanded medical research, including the expedited mapping of the human brain. Its great science, said Cantor If approved by congress the initiative is said to start in October 2014.