December 20, 2017

On Monday, December 18, a day that was informally declared “Science Day in Congress” by Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX-21), the House considered three bipartisan pieces of legislation that support careers and education in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics).

Of those three bills, the STEM Research and Education Effectiveness and Transparency Act (H.R.4375) came to a vote and passed on the House floor before the end of the day. H.R.4375, introduced by Representative Barbara Comstock (R-VA-10) in November, would require the National Science Foundation (NSF) to report to Congress on the effectiveness of its research and education programs for broadening the participation of women and minorities in STEM. In addition, H.R.4375 would direct each federal science agency to collect standardized data, including demographics, for all research and development grant applications. According to Representative Comstock, this information will help focus investment and resources on efforts that effectively build diversity in STEM fields.

The following day, the House passed the Supporting Veterans in STEM Careers Act (H.R.4323), introduced by Representative Neal Dunn (R-FL-2) to encourage veterans’ involvement in STEM education and computer science, and the Women in Aerospace Education Act (H.R.4254), introduced by Representative Stephen Knight (R-CA-25) to strengthen the aerospace workforce pipeline for women through the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program and internships and fellowships at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

After passing in the House, all three STEM bills were received in the Senate and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Sources: Library of Congress, STEM Education Coalition, U.S. House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives