IIB 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 425 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 26, 2019 

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, 


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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 180 

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


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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) include options for how the Foundation 

13 could track veteran participation in research and 

14 education 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— 


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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 


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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’’. 


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1 (h) VETERANS AND MILITARY FAMILIES STEM 

2 EDUCATION INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP.— 

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

4 Science and Technology Policy shall establish an 

5 interagency working group to coordinate Federal 

6 programs and policies for transitioning and training 

7 veterans and military spouses for STEM careers. 

8 (2) DUTIES OF INTERAGENCY WORKING

9 GROUP.—The interagency working group established 

10 under paragraph (1) shall— 

11 (A) coordinate any Federal agency STEM 

12 outreach activities and programs for veterans 

13 and military spouses; and 

14 (B) develop and facilitate the implementa15 tion by participating agencies of a strategic 

16 plan, which shall— 

17 (i) specify and prioritize short- and 

18 long-term objectives; 

19 (ii) specify the common metrics that 

20 will be used by Federal agencies to assess 

21 progress toward achieving such objectives; 

22 (iii) identify barriers veterans face in 

23 reentering the workforce, including a lack 

24 of formal STEM education, career guidVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:43 Feb 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H425.RFS H425

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1 ance, and the process of transferring mili2 tary credits and skills to college credits; 

3 (iv) identify barriers military spouses 

4 face in establishing careers in STEM 

5 fields; 

6 (v) describe the approaches that each 

7 participating agency will take to address 

8 administratively the barriers described in 

9 clauses (iii) and (iv); and 

10 (vi) identify any barriers that require 

11 Federal or State legislative or regulatory 

12 changes in order to be addressed. 

13 (3) DUTIES OF OSTP.—The Director of the Of14 fice of Science and Technology Policy shall encour15 age and monitor the efforts of the Federal agencies 

16 participating in the interagency working group to 

17 ensure that the strategic plan required under para18 graph (2)(B) is developed and executed effectively 

19 and that the objectives of such strategic plan are 

20 met. 

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

22 Science and Technology Policy shall— 

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

24 enactment of this Act, submit to Congress the 


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

2 and 

3 (B) include in the annual report required 

4 by section 101(d) of the America COMPETES 

5 Reauthorization Act a description of any 

6 progress made in carrying out the activities de7 scribed in paragraph (2)(B) of this subsection. 

8 (5) SUNSET.—The interagency working group 

9 established under paragraph (1) shall terminate on 

10 the date that is 5 years after the date that it is es11 tablished. 

Passed the House of Representatives February 25, 

2019. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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