IB 

Union Calendar No. 319 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4979 

[Report No. 116–397] 

To direct the Director of the National Science Foundation to support STEM 

education and workforce development research focused on rural areas, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 5, 2019 

Mr. LUCAS (for himself, Mr. MCADAMS, Mr. BAIRD, Ms. JOHNSON of Texas, 

Mr. CONAWAY, Ms. KENDRA S. HORN of Oklahoma, Mr. WEBER of 

Texas, Mr. BALDERSON, Mr. NORMAN, Mr. MURPHY of North Carolina, 

Mr. COMER, Mr. GONZALEZ of Ohio, and Mr. WALTZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and 

Technology 

FEBRUARY 13, 2020 

Additional sponsors: Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. FOSTER, Ms. ESHOO, Ms. HERRERA

BEUTLER, Mr. LAMB, Mr. BABIN, Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. 

PETERSON, Mr. WITTMAN, Ms. WEXTON, Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia, 

Mr. PERLMUTTER, Mr. STAUBER, Mr. NEWHOUSE, Mrs. AXNE, Mr. 

DELGADO, Mr. KIND, Mr. EMMER, Mr. HARDER of California, Ms. 

SPANBERGER, Mrs. HARTZLER, Ms. SLOTKIN, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of 

Georgia, Mr. HAGEDORN, Mr. CRAWFORD, Mr. COLE, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. 

LAMALFA, Mr. DUNN, Mr. GOTTHEIMER, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. COX of California, Mrs. BUSTOS, and Ms. HOULAHAN

FEBRUARY 13, 2020 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on November 5, 2019] 


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A BILL 

To direct the Director of the National Science Foundation 

to support STEM education and workforce development 

research focused on rural areas, and for other purposes. 


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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rural STEM Education 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The supply of STEM workers is not keeping 

9 pace with the rapidly evolving needs of the public and 

10 private sector, resulting in a deficit often referred to 

11 as a STEM skills shortage. 

12 (2) According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 

13 the United States will need one million additional 

14 STEM professionals than it is on track to produce in 

15 the coming decade. 

16 (3) Many STEM occupations offer higher wages, 

17 more opportunities for advancement, and a higher de18 gree of job security than non-STEM jobs. 

19 (4) The 60,000,000 individuals in the United 

20 States who live in rural settings are significantly 

21 under-represented in STEM. 

22 (5) According to the National Center for Edu23 cation Statistics, nine million students in the United 

24 States—nearly 20 percent of the total K–12 popu25 lation—attend rural schools, and for reasons ranging 


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1 from teacher quality to shortages of resources, these 

2 students often have fewer opportunities for high-qual3 ity STEM learning than their peers in the Nation’s 

4 urban and suburban schools. 

5 (6) Rural areas represent one of the most prom6 ising, yet underutilized, opportunities for STEM edu7 cation to impact workforce development and regional 

8 innovation, including agriculture. 

9 (7) The study of agriculture, food, and natural 

10 resources involves biology, engineering, physics, chem11 istry, math, geology, computer science, and other sci12 entific fields. 

13 (8) It is estimated that by 2020 that there will 

14 be a projected one million more computing jobs than 

15 applicants who can fill them. To meet this demand, 

16 rural students must acquire computing skills through 

17 exposure to computer science learning in grades PreK 

18 - 12 and in informal learning settings. 

19 (9) More than 293,000,000 individuals in the 

20 United States use high-speed broadband to work, 

21 learn, access healthcare, and operate their businesses, 

22 while 19,000,000 individuals in the United States 

23 still lack access to high-speed broadband. Rural areas 

24 are hardest hit, with over 26 percent of individuals 

25 in rural areas in the United States lacking access to 


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1 high-speed broadband compared to 1.7 percent of in2 dividuals in urban areas in the United States. 

3 SEC. 3. NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION RURAL STEM AC4 TIVITIES. 

5 (a) PREPARING RURAL STEM EDUCATORS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall provide 

7 grants on a merit-reviewed, competitive basis to insti8 tutions of higher education or nonprofit organizations 

9 (or a consortium thereof) for research and develop10 ment to advance innovative approaches to support 

11 and sustain high-quality STEM teaching in rural 

12 schools. 

13 (2) USE OF FUNDS.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—Grants awarded under 

15 this section shall be used for the research and de16 velopment activities referred to in paragraph (1), 

17 which may include— 

18 (i) engaging rural educators of stu19 dents in grades Pre-K through 12 in profes20 sional learning opportunities to enhance 

21 STEM knowledge, including computer 

22 science, and develop best practices; 

23 (ii) supporting research on effective 

24 STEM teaching practices in rural settings, 

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1 based grading practices to assess student 

2 performance when employing the 

3 transdisciplinary teaching approach for 

4 STEM disciplines; 

5 (iii) designing and developing pre-serv6 ice and in-service training resources to as7 sist such rural educators in adopting 

8 transdisciplinary teaching practices across 

9 STEM courses; 

10 (iv) coordinating with local partners to 

11 adapt STEM teaching practices to leverage 

12 local natural and community assets in 

13 order to support in-place learning in rural 

14 areas; 

15 (v) providing hands-on training and 

16 research opportunities for rural educators 

17 described in clause (i) at Federal Labora18 tories, institutions of higher education, or 

19 in industry; 

20 (vi) developing training and best prac21 tices for educators who teach multiple grade 

22 levels within a STEM discipline; 

23 (vii) designing and implementing pro24 fessional development courses and experi25 ences, including mentoring, for rural eduVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:44 Feb 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4979.RH H4979

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1 cators described in clause (i) that combine 

2 face-to-face and online experiences; and 

3 (viii) any other activity the Director 

4 determines will accomplish the goals of this 

5 subsection. 

6 (B) RURAL STEM COLLABORATIVE.—The 

7 Director may establish a pilot program of re8 gional cohorts in rural areas that will provide 

9 peer support, mentoring, and hands-on research 

10 experiences for rural STEM educators of students 

11 in grades Pre-K through 12, in order to build an 

12 ecosystem of cooperation among educators, re13 searchers, academia, and local industry. 

14 (b) BROADENING PARTICIPATION OF RURAL STU15 DENTS IN STEM.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall provide 

17 grants on a merit-reviewed, competitive basis to insti18 tutions of higher education or nonprofit organizations 

19 (or a consortium thereof) for— 

20 (A) research and development of program21 ming to identify the barriers rural students face 

22 in accessing high-quality STEM education; and 

23 (B) development of innovative solutions to 

24 improve the participation and advancement of 


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1 rural students in grades Pre-K through 12 in 

2 STEM studies. 

3 (2) USE OF FUNDS.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—Grants awarded under 

5 this section shall be used for the research and de6 velopment activities referred to in paragraph (1), 

7 which may include— 

8 (i) developing partnerships with com9 munity colleges to offer advanced STEM 

10 course work, including computer science, to 

11 rural high school students; 

12 (ii) supporting research on effective 

13 STEM practices in rural settings; 

14 (iii) implementing a school-wide 

15 STEM approach; 

16 (iv) improving the National Science 

17 Foundation’s Advanced Technology Edu18 cation program’s coordination and engage19 ment with rural communities; 

20 (v) collaborating with existing commu21 nity partners and networks, such as the co22 operative research and extension services of 

23 the Department of Agriculture and youth 

24 serving organizations like 4-H, after school 

25 STEM programs, and summer STEM proVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:44 Feb 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4979.RH H4979

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1 grams, to leverage community resources and 

2 develop place-based programming; 

3 (vi) connecting rural school districts 

4 and institutions of higher education, to im5 prove precollegiate STEM education and 

6 engagement; 

7 (vii) supporting partnerships that offer 

8 hands-on inquiry-based science activities, 

9 including coding, and access to lab re10 sources for students studying STEM in 

11 grades Pre–K through 12 in a rural area; 

12 (viii) evaluating the role of broadband 

13 connectivity and its associated impact on 

14 the STEM and technology literacy of rural 

15 students; 

16 (ix) building capacity to support ex17 tracurricular STEM programs in rural 

18 schools, including mentor-led engagement 

19 programs, STEM programs held during 

20 nonschool hours, STEM networks, 

21 makerspaces, coding activities, and competi22 tions; and 

23 (x) any other activity the Director de24 termines will accomplish the goals of this 

25 subsection. 


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1 (c) APPLICATION.—An applicant seeking a grant 

2 under subsection (a) or (b) shall submit an application at 

3 such time, in such manner, and containing such informa4 tion as the Director may require. The application may in5 clude the following: 

6 (1) A description of the target population to be 

7 served by the research activity or activities for which 

8 such grant is sought. 

9 (2) A description of the process for recruitment 

10 and selection of students, educators, or schools from 

11 rural areas to participate in such activity or activi12 ties. 

13 (3) A description of how such activity or activi14 ties may inform efforts to promote the engagement 

15 and achievement of rural students in grades PreK - 

16 12 in STEM studies. 

17 (4) In the case of a proposal consisting of a part18 nership or partnerships with one or more rural 

19 schools and one or more researchers, a plan for estab20 lishing a sustained partnership that is jointly devel21 oped and managed, draws from the capacities of each 

22 partner, and is mutually beneficial. 

23 (d) PARTNERSHIPS.—In awarding grants under sub24 section (a) or (b), the Director shall— 


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1 (1) encourage applicants which, for the purpose 

2 of the activity or activities funded through the grant, 

3 include or partner with a nonprofit organization or 

4 an institution of higher education (or a consortium 

5 thereof) that has extensive experience and expertise in 

6 increasing the participation of rural students in 

7 grades Pre-K through 12 in STEM; 

8 (2) encourage applicants which, for the purpose 

9 of the activity or activities funded through the grant, 

10 include or partner with a consortium of rural schools 

11 or rural school districts; and 

12 (3) encourage applications which, for the pur13 pose of the activity or activities funded through the 

14 grant, include commitments from school principals 

15 and administrators to making reforms and activities 

16 proposed by the applicant a priority. 

17 (e) EVALUATIONS.—All proposals for grants under 

18 subsections (a) and (b) shall include an evaluation plan 

19 that includes the use of outcome oriented measures to assess 

20 the impact and efficacy of the grant. Each recipient of a 

21 grant under this section shall include results from these 

22 evaluative activities in annual and final projects. 

23 (f) ACCOUNTABILITY AND DISSEMINATION.— 


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1 (1) EVALUATION REQUIRED.—The Director shall 

2 evaluate the portfolio of grants awarded under sub3 sections (a) and (b). Such evaluation shall— 

4 (A) use a common set of benchmarks and 

5 tools to assess the results of research conducted 

6 under such grants and identify best practices; 

7 and 

8 (B) to the extent practicable, integrate the 

9 findings of research resulting from the activity 

10 or activities funded through such grants with the 

11 findings of other research on rural student’s pur12 suit of degrees or careers in STEM. 

13 (2) REPORT ON EVALUATIONS.—Not later than 

14 180 days after the completion of the evaluation under 

15 paragraph (1), the Director shall submit to Congress 

16 and make widely available to the public a report that 

17 includes— 

18 (A) the results of the evaluation; and 

19 (B) any recommendations for administra20 tive and legislative action that could optimize 

21 the effectiveness of the grants awarded under this 

22 section. 

23 (g) REPORT BY COMMITTEE ON EQUAL OPPORTUNI24 TIES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—As part of the first report re2 quired by section 36(e) of the Science and Engineer3 ing Equal Opportunities Act (42 U.S.C. 1885c(e)) 

4 transmitted to Congress after the date of enactment of 

5 this Act, the Committee on Equal Opportunities in 

6 Science and Engineering shall include— 

7 (A) a description of past and present poli8 cies and activities of the Foundation to encour9 age full participation of students in rural com10 munities in science, mathematics, engineering, 

11 and computer science fields; and 

12 (B) an assessment of trends in participa13 tion of rural students in grades Pre-K through 

14 12 in Foundation activities, and an assessment 

15 of the policies and activities of the Foundation, 

16 along with proposals for new strategies or the 

17 broadening of existing successful strategies to18 wards facilitating the goals of this Act. 

19 (2) TECHNICAL CORRECTION.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 313 of the Amer21 ican Innovation and Competitiveness Act (Public 

22 Law 114–329) is amended by striking ‘‘Section 

23 204(e) of the National Science Foundation Au24 thorization Act of 1988’’ and inserting ‘‘Section 


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1 36(e) of the Science and Engineering Equal Op2 portunities Act’’. 

3 (B) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made 

4 by paragraph (1) shall take effect as if included 

5 in the enactment of section 313 of the American 

6 Innovation and Competitiveness Act (Public 

7 Law 114–329). 

8 (h) COORDINATION.—In carrying out this section, the 

9 Director shall, for purposes of enhancing program effective10 ness and avoiding duplication of activities, consult, cooper11 ate, and coordinate with the programs and policies of other 

12 relevant Federal agencies. 

13 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are 

14 authorized to be appropriated to the Director— 

15 (1) $8,000,000 to carry out the activities under 

16 subsection (a) for each of fiscal years 2020 through 

17 2025; and 

18 (2) $12,000,000 to carry out the activities under 

19 subsection (b) for each of fiscal years 2020 through 

20 2025. 

21 SEC. 4. OPPORTUNITIES FOR ONLINE EDUCATION. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall award competi23 tive grants to institutions of higher education or nonprofit 

24 organizations (or a consortium thereof, which may include 


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1 a private sector partner) to conduct research on online 

2 STEM education courses for rural communities. 

3 (b) RESEARCH AREAS.—The research areas eligible for 

4 funding under this subsection shall include— 

5 (1) evaluating the learning and achievement of 

6 rural students in grades Pre–K through 12 in STEM 

7 subjects; 

8 (2) understanding how computer-based and on9 line professional development courses and mentor ex10 periences can be integrated to meet the needs of edu11 cators of rural students in grades Pre–K through 12; 

12 (3) combining computer-based and online STEM 

13 education and training with apprenticeships, men14 toring, or other applied learning arrangements; 

15 (4) leveraging online programs to supplement 

16 STEM studies for rural students that need physical 

17 and academic accommodation; and 

18 (5) any other activity the Director determines 

19 will accomplish the goals of this subsection. 

20 (c) EVALUATIONS.—All proposals for grants under this 

21 section shall include an evaluation plan that includes the 

22 use of outcome oriented measures to assess the impact and 

23 efficacy of the grant. Each recipient of a grant under this 

24 section shall include results from these evaluative activities 

25 in annual and final projects. 


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1 (d) ACCOUNTABILITY AND DISSEMINATION.— 

2 (1) EVALUATION REQUIRED.—The Director shall 

3 evaluate the portfolio of grants awarded under this 

4 section. Such evaluation shall— 

5 (A) use a common set of benchmarks and 

6 tools to assess the results of research conducted 

7 under such grants and identify best practices; 

8 and 

9 (B) to the extent practicable, integrate find10 ings from activities carried out pursuant to re11 search conducted under this section, with respect 

12 to the pursuit of careers and degrees in STEM, 

13 with those activities carried our pursuant to 

14 other research on serving rural students and 

15 communities. 

16 (2) REPORT ON EVALUATIONS.—Not later than 

17 180 days after the completion of the evaluation under 

18 paragraph (1), the Director shall submit to Congress 

19 and make widely available to the public a report that 

20 includes— 

21 (A) the results of the evaluation; and 

22 (B) any recommendations for administra23 tive and legislative action that could optimize 

24 the effectiveness of the grants awarded under this 

25 section. 


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1 (e) COORDINATION.—In carrying out this section, the 

2 Director shall, for purposes of enhancing program effective3 ness and avoiding duplication of activities, consult, cooper4 ate, and coordinate with the programs and policies of other 

5 relevant Federal agencies. 

6 SEC. 5. NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES EVALUATION. 

7 (a) STUDY.—Not later than 12 months after the date 

8 of enactment of this Act, the Director shall enter into an 

9 agreement with the National Academy of Sciences under 

10 which the National Academy agrees to conduct an evalua11 tion and assessment that— 

12 (1) evaluates the quality and quantity of current 

13 Federal programming and research directed at exam14 ining STEM education for students in grades Pre–K 

15 through 12 and workforce development in rural areas; 

16 (2) assesses the impact of the scarcity of 

17 broadband connectivity in rural communities has on 

18 STEM and technical literacy for students in grades 

19 Pre–K through 12 in rural areas; 

20 (3) assesses the core research and data needed to 

21 understand the challenges rural areas are facing in 

22 providing quality STEM education and workforce de23 velopment; and 

24 (4) makes recommendations for action at the 

25 Federal, State, and local levels for improving STEM 


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1 education for students in grades Pre–K through 12 

2 and workforce development in rural areas. 

3 (b) REPORT TO DIRECTOR.—The agreement entered 

4 into under subsection (a) shall require the National Acad5 emy of Sciences, not later than 24 months after the date 

6 of enactment of this Act, to submit to the Director a report 

7 on the study conducted under such subsection, including the 

8 National Academy’s findings and recommendations. 

9 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are 

10 authorized to be appropriated to the Director to carry out 

11 this section $1,000,000 for fiscal year 2020. 

12 SEC. 6. GAO REVIEW. 

13 Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of 

14 this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall 

15 conduct a study on the engagement of rural populations in 

16 Federal STEM programs and submit to Congress a report 

17 that includes— 

18 (1) an assessment of how Federal STEM edu19 cation programs are serving rural populations; 

20 (2) a description of initiatives carried out by 

21 Federal agencies that are targeted at supporting 

22 STEM education in rural areas; 

23 (3) an assessment of what is known about the 

24 impact and effectiveness of Federal investments in 


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1 STEM education programs that are targeted to rural 

2 areas; and 

3 (4) an assessment of challenges that state and 

4 Federal STEM education programs face in reaching 

5 rural population centers. 

6 SEC. 7. CAPACITY BUILDING THROUGH EPSCOR. 

7 Section 517(f)(2) of the America COMPETES Reau8 thorization Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 1862p–9(f)(2)) is 

9 amended— 

10 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

11 the end; and 

12 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(C) to increase the capacity of rural com14 munities to provide quality STEM education 

15 and STEM workforce development programming 

16 to students, and teachers; and’’. 

17 SEC. 8. NIST ENGAGEMENT WITH RURAL COMMUNITIES. 

18 (a) MEP OUTREACH.—Section 25 of the National In19 stitute of Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278k) 

20 is amended— 

21 (1) in subsection (c)— 

22 (A) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘commu23 nity colleges and area career and technical edu24 cation schools’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘sec25 ondary schools (as defined in section 8101 of the 


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1 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

2 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801)), community colleges, and 

3 area career and technical education schools, in4 cluding those in underserved and rural commu5 nities,’’; and 

6 (B) in paragraph (7)— 

7 (i) by striking ‘‘and local colleges’’ and 

8 inserting the following: ‘‘local high schools 

9 and local colleges, including those in under10 served and rural communities,’’; and 

11 (ii) by inserting ‘‘or other applied 

12 learning opportunities’’ after ‘‘apprentice13 ships’’; and 

14 (2) in subsection (d)(3) by striking ‘‘, commu15 nity colleges, and area career and technical education 

16 schools,’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘and local high 

17 schools, community colleges, and area career and tech18 nical education schools, including those in under19 served and rural communities,’’. 

20 (b) RURAL CONNECTIVITY PRIZE COMPETITION.— 

21 (1) PRIZE COMPETITION.—Pursuant to section 

22 24 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation 

23 Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3719), the Secretary of Com24 merce, acting through the Under Secretary of Com25 merce for Standards and Technology (referred to in 


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1 this subsection as the ‘‘Secretary’’), shall carry out a 

2 program to award prizes competitively to stimulate 

3 research and development of creative technologies in 

4 order to deploy affordable and reliable broadband 

5 connectivity to underserved rural communities. 

6 (2) PLAN FOR DEPLOYMENT IN RURAL COMMU7 NITIES.—Each proposal submitted pursuant to para8 graph (1) shall include a plan for deployment of the 

9 technology that is the subject of such proposal in an 

10 underserved rural community. 

11 (3) PRIZE AMOUNT.—In carrying out the pro12 gram under paragraph (1), the Secretary may award 

13 not more than a total of $5,000,000 to one or more 

14 winners of the prize competition. 

15 (4) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after the 

16 date on which a prize is awarded under the prize 

17 competition, the Secretary shall submit to the relevant 

18 committees of Congress a report that describes the 

19 winning proposal of the prize competition. 

20 (5) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out the pro21 gram under subsection (a), the Secretary may consult 

22 with the heads of relevant departments and agencies 

23 of the Federal Government. 


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1 SEC. 9. NITR-D BROADBAND WORKING GROUP. 

2 Title I of the High-Performance Computing Act of 

3 1991 (15 U.S.C. 5511 et seq.) is amended by adding at the 

4 end the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 103. BROADBAND RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 

6 WORKING GROUP. 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall establish a 

8 broadband research and development working group to ad9 dress national research challenges and opportunities for im10 proving broadband access and adoption across the United 

11 States. 

12 ‘‘(b) ACTIVITIES.—The working group shall identify 

13 and coordinate key research priorities for addressing 

14 broadband access and adoption, including— 

15 ‘‘(1) promising research areas; 

16 ‘‘(2) requirements for data collection and shar17 ing; 

18 ‘‘(3) opportunities for better alignment and co19 ordination across Federal agencies and external stake20 holders; and 

21 ‘‘(4) input on the development of new Federal 

22 policies and programs to enhance data collection and 

23 research. 

24 ‘‘(c) COORDINATION.—The working group shall coordi25 nate, as appropriate, with the Rural Broadband Integra26 tion Working Group established under section 6214 of the 


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1 Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (Public Law 115– 

2 334) and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture 

3 of the Department of Agriculture. 

4 ‘‘(d) REPORT.—The working group shall report to 

5 Congress on their activities as part of the annual report 

6 submitted under section 101(a)(2)(D). 

7 ‘‘(e) SUNSET.—The authority to carry out this section 

8 shall terminate on the date that is 5 years after the date 

9 of enactment of the Rural STEM Education Act.’’. 

10 SEC. 10. DEFINITIONS. 

11 In this Act: 

12 (1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means the 

13 Director of the National Science Foundation estab14 lished under section 2 of the National Science Foun15 dation Act of 1950 (42 U.S.C. 1861). 

16 (2) FEDERAL LABORATORY.—The term ‘‘Federal 

17 laboratory’’ has the meaning given such term in sec18 tion 4 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation 

19 Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3703). 

20 (3) FOUNDATION.—The term ‘‘Foundation’’ 

21 means the National Science Foundation established 

22 under section 2 of the National Science Foundation 

23 Act of 1950 (42 U.S.C. 1861). 

24 (4) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

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1 ing given such term in section 101(a) of the Higher 

2 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 

3 (5) STEM.—The term ‘‘STEM’’ has the meaning 

4 given the term in section 2 of the America COM5 PETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 6621 

6 note). 

7 (6) STEM EDUCATION.—The term ‘‘STEM edu8 cation’’ has the meaning given the term in section 2 

9 of the STEM Education Act of 2015 (42 U.S.C. 6621 

10 note). 


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Union Calendar No. 319 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4979 

[Report No. 116–397] 

A BILL 

To direct the Director of the National Science 

areas, and for other purposes. workforce development research focused on rural Foundation to support STEM education and 

FEBRUARY 13, 2020 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


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