IIB 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4323 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 20, 2017 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

and Transportation 

AN ACT 

To promote veteran involvement in STEM education, computer science, and scientific research, and for other purposes. 

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


daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS
2 

HR 4323 RFS

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Supporting Veterans 

3 in STEM Careers Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

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

7 the Director of the National Science Foundation. 

8 (2) FOUNDATION.—The term ‘‘Foundation’’ 

9 means the National Science Foundation. 

10 (3) STEM.—The term ‘‘STEM’’ has the mean11 ing given the term in section 2 of the America COM12 PETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 

13 6621 note). 

14 (4) VETERAN.—The term ‘‘veteran’’ has the 

15 meaning given the term in section 101 of title 38, 

16 United States Code. 

17 SEC. 3. SUPPORTING VETERANS IN STEM EDUCATION AND 

18 COMPUTER SCIENCE. 

19 (a) SUPPORTING VETERAN INVOLVEMENT IN SCI20 ENTIFIC RESEARCH AND STEM EDUCATION.—The Di21 rector shall, through the research and education activities 

22 of the Foundation, encourage veterans to study and pur23 sue careers in STEM and computer science, in coordina24 tion with other Federal agencies that serve veterans. 

25 (b) VETERAN OUTREACH PLAN.—Not later than 90 

26 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director 


daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS
3 

HR 4323 RFS

1 shall submit to the Committee on Science, Space, and 

2 Technology of the House of Representatives and the Com3 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 

4 Senate a plan for how the Foundation can enhance its out5 reach efforts to veterans. Such plan shall— 

6 (1) report on the Foundation’s existing out7 reach activities; 

8 (2) identify the best method for the Foundation 

9 to leverage existing authorities and programs to fa10 cilitate and support veterans in STEM careers and 

11 studies, including teaching programs; and 

12 (3) identify a method for the Foundation to 

13 track veteran participation in research and edu14 cation programs of the Foundation, and describe 

15 any barriers to collecting such information. 

16 (c) NATIONAL SCIENCE BOARD INDICATORS RE17 PORT.—The National Science Board shall provide in its 

18 annual report on indicators of the state of science and en19 gineering in the United States any available and relevant 

20 data on veterans in science and engineering careers or 

21 education programs. 

22 (d) ROBERT NOYCE TEACHER SCHOLARSHIP PRO23 GRAM UPDATE.—Section 10 of the National Science 

24 Foundation Authorization Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 1862n– 

25 1) is amended— 


daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS
4 

HR 4323 RFS

1 (1) in subsection (a)(5)— 

2 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

3 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

4 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking the 

5 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

6 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(C) higher education programs that serve 

8 or support veterans.’’; 

9 (2) in subsection (b)(2)(F)— 

10 (A) by striking ‘‘and students’’ and insert11 ing ‘‘, students’’; and 

12 (B) by inserting ‘‘, and veterans’’ before 

13 the period at the end; 

14 (3) in subsection (c)(2), by inserting ‘‘and vet15 erans’’ before the period at the end; and 

16 (4) in subsection (d)(2), by inserting ‘‘and vet17 erans’’ before the period at the end. 

18 (e) NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION TEACHING

19 FELLOWSHIPS AND MASTER TEACHING FELLOWSHIPS

20 UPDATE.—Section 10A(d) of the National Science Foun21 dation Authorization Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 1862n– 

22 1a(d)) is amended— 

23 (1) in paragraph (3)(F)— 

24 (A) by striking ‘‘and individuals’’ and in25 serting ‘‘, individuals’’; and 


daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS
5 

HR 4323 RFS

1 (B) by inserting ‘‘, and veterans’’ before 

2 the period at the end; and 

3 (2) in paragraph (4)(B), by inserting ‘‘and vet4 erans’’ before the period at the end. 

5 (f) NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION COMPUTER

6 AND NETWORK SECURITY CAPACITY BUILDING GRANTS

7 UPDATE.—Section 5(a) of the Cyber Security Research 

8 and Development Act (15 U.S.C. 7404(a)) is amended— 

9 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘and stu10 dents who are veterans’’ after ‘‘these fields’’; and 

11 (2) in paragraph (3)— 

12 (A) in subparagraph (I), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

13 at the end; 

14 (B) by redesignating subparagraph (J) as 

15 subparagraph (K); and 

16 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (I) the 

17 following: 

18 ‘‘(J) creating opportunities for veterans to 

19 transition to careers in computer and network 

20 security; and’’. 

21 (g) GRADUATE TRAINEESHIPS IN COMPUTER AND

22 NETWORK SECURITY RESEARCH UPDATE.—Section 

23 5(c)(6)(C) of the Cyber Security Research and Develop24 ment Act (15 U.S.C. 7404(c)(6)(C)) is amended by insert25 ing ‘‘or veterans’’ after ‘‘disciplines’’. 


daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS
6 

HR 4323 RFS

1 (h) VETERANS AND MILITARY FAMILIES STEM 

2 EDUCATION INTERAGENCY SUBCOMMITTEE.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office of 

4 Science and Technology Policy shall establish a sub5 committee under the Committee on STEM Edu6 cation of the National Science and Technology 

7 Council (established under section 101 of the Amer8 ica COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010) to 

9 coordinate Federal programs and policies for 

10 transitioning and training veterans and military 

11 spouses for STEM careers. 

12 (2) DUTIES OF SUBCOMMITTEE.—The sub13 committee established under paragraph (1) shall— 

14 (A) coordinate Federal agency STEM out15 reach activities and programs for veterans and 

16 military spouses; and 

17 (B) develop and facilitate the implementa18 tion by participating agencies of a strategic 

19 plan, which shall— 

20 (i) specify and prioritize short- and 

21 long-term objectives; 

22 (ii) specify the common metrics that 

23 will be used by Federal agencies to assess 

24 progress toward achieving such objectives; 


daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS
7 

HR 4323 RFS

1 (iii) identify barriers veterans face in 

2 reentering the workforce, including a lack 

3 of formal STEM education, career guid4 ance, and the process of transferring mili5 tary credits and skills to college credits; 

6 (iv) identify barriers military spouses 

7 face in establishing careers in STEM 

8 fields; 

9 (v) describe the approaches that each 

10 participating agency will take to address 

11 administratively the barriers described in 

12 clauses (iii) and (iv); and 

13 (vi) identify any barriers that require 

14 Federal or State legislative or regulatory 

15 changes in order to be addressed. 

16 (3) DUTIES OF OSTP.—The Director of the Of17 fice of Science and Technology Policy shall encour18 age and monitor the efforts of the Federal agencies 

19 participating in the subcommittee to ensure that the 

20 strategic plan required under paragraph (2)(B) is 

21 developed and executed effectively and that the ob22 jectives of such strategic plan are met. 

23 (4) REPORT.—The Director of the Office of 

24 Science and Technology Policy shall— 


daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS
8 

HR 4323 RFS

1 (A) not later than 1 year after the date of 

2 enactment of this Act, submit to Congress the 

3 strategic plan required under paragraph (2)(B); 

4 and 

5 (B) include in the annual report required 

6 by section 101(d) of the America COMPETES 

7 Reauthorization Act a description of any 

8 progress made in carrying out the activities de9 scribed in paragraph (2)(B) of this subsection. 

Passed the House of Representatives December 19, 

2017. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS