II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 153 

To promote veteran involvement in STEM education, computer science, and 

scientific research, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 16, 2019 

Mr. RUBIO (for himself and Ms. KLOBUCHAR) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

5 in STEM Careers Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

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

9 the Director of the National Science Foundation. 


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

2 means the National Science Foundation. 

3 (3) STEM.—The term ‘‘STEM’’ has the mean4 ing given the term in section 2 of the America COM5 PETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 

6 6621 note). 

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

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

9 United States Code. 

10 SEC. 3. SUPPORTING VETERANS IN STEM EDUCATION AND 

11 COMPUTER SCIENCE. 

12 (a) SUPPORTING VETERAN INVOLVEMENT IN SCI13 ENTIFIC RESEARCH AND STEM EDUCATION.—The Di14 rector shall, through the research and education activities 

15 of the Foundation, encourage veterans to study and pur16 sue careers in STEM and computer science, in coordina17 tion with other Federal agencies that serve veterans. 

18 (b) VETERAN OUTREACH PLAN.—Not later than 180 

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

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

21 Technology of the House of Representatives and the Com22 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 

23 Senate a plan for how the Foundation can enhance its out24 reach efforts to veterans. Such plan shall— 


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1 (1) report on the Foundation’s existing out2 reach activities; 

3 (2) identify the best method for the Foundation 

4 to leverage existing authorities and programs to fa5 cilitate and support veterans in STEM careers and 

6 studies, including teaching programs; and 

7 (3) include options for how the Foundation 

8 could track veteran participation in research and 

9 education programs of the Foundation, and describe 

10 any barriers to collecting such information. 

11 (c) NATIONAL SCIENCE BOARD INDICATORS RE12 PORT.—The National Science Board shall provide in its 

13 annual report on indicators of the state of science and en14 gineering in the United States any available and relevant 

15 data on veterans in science and engineering careers or 

16 education programs. 

17 (d) ROBERT NOYCE TEACHER SCHOLARSHIP PRO18 GRAM UPDATE.—Section 10 of the National Science 

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

20 1) is amended— 

21 (1) in subsection (a)(5)— 

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

23 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

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

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


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

2 ‘‘(C) higher education programs that serve 

3 or support veterans.’’; 

4 (2) in subsection (b)(2)(F)— 

5 (A) by striking ‘‘and students’’ and insert6 ing ‘‘, students’’; and 

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

8 the period at the end; 

9 (3) in subsection (c)(2), by inserting ‘‘and vet10 erans’’ before the period at the end; and 

11 (4) in subsection (d)(2), by inserting ‘‘and vet12 erans’’ before the period at the end. 

13 (e) NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION TEACHING

14 FELLOWSHIPS AND MASTER TEACHING FELLOWSHIPS

15 UPDATE.—Section 10A(d) of the National Science Foun16 dation Authorization Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 1862n– 

17 1a(d)) is amended— 

18 (1) in paragraph (3)(F)— 

19 (A) by striking ‘‘and individuals’’ and in20 serting ‘‘, individuals’’; and 

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

22 the period at the end; and 

23 (2) in paragraph (4)(B), by inserting ‘‘and vet24 erans’’ before the period at the end. 


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1 (f) NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION COMPUTER

2 AND NETWORK SECURITY CAPACITY BUILDING GRANTS

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

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

5 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘and stu6 dents who are veterans’’ after ‘‘these fields’’; and 

7 (2) in paragraph (3)— 

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

9 at the end; 

10 (B) by redesignating subparagraph (J) as 

11 subparagraph (K); and 

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

13 following: 

14 ‘‘(J) creating opportunities for veterans to 

15 transition to careers in computer and network 

16 security; and’’. 

17 (g) GRADUATE TRAINEESHIPS IN COMPUTER AND

18 NETWORK SECURITY RESEARCH UPDATE.—Section 

19 5(c)(6)(C) of the Cyber Security Research and Develop20 ment Act (15 U.S.C. 7404(c)(6)(C)) is amended by insert21 ing ‘‘or veterans’’ after ‘‘disciplines’’. 

22 (h) VETERANS AND MILITARY FAMILIES STEM 

23 EDUCATION INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP.— 

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

25 Science and Technology Policy shall establish an 


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1 interagency working group to coordinate Federal 

2 programs and policies for transitioning and training 

3 veterans and military spouses for STEM careers. 

4 (2) DUTIES OF INTERAGENCY WORKING

5 GROUP.—The interagency working group established 

6 under paragraph (1) shall— 

7 (A) coordinate any Federal agency STEM 

8 outreach activities and programs for veterans 

9 and military spouses; and 

10 (B) develop and facilitate the implementa11 tion by participating agencies of a strategic 

12 plan, which shall— 

13 (i) specify and prioritize short- and 

14 long-term objectives; 

15 (ii) specify the common metrics that 

16 will be used by Federal agencies to assess 

17 progress toward achieving such objectives; 

18 (iii) identify barriers veterans face in 

19 reentering the workforce, including a lack 

20 of formal STEM education, career guid21 ance, and the process of transferring mili22 tary credits and skills to college credits; 

23 (iv) identify barriers military spouses 

24 face in establishing careers in STEM 

25 fields; 


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1 (v) describe the approaches that each 

2 participating agency will take to address 

3 administratively the barriers described in 

4 clauses (iii) and (iv); and 

5 (vi) identify any barriers that require 

6 Federal or State legislative or regulatory 

7 changes in order to be addressed. 

8 (3) DUTIES OF OSTP.—The Director of the Of9 fice of Science and Technology Policy shall encour10 age and monitor the efforts of the Federal agencies 

11 participating in the interagency working group to 

12 ensure that the strategic plan required under para13 graph (2)(B) is developed and executed effectively 

14 and that the objectives of such strategic plan are 

15 met. 

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

17 Science and Technology Policy shall— 

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

19 enactment of this Act, submit to Congress the 

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

21 and 

22 (B) include in the annual report required 

23 by section 101(d) of the America COMPETES 

24 Reauthorization Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 

25 6621(d)) a description of any progress made in 


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1 carrying out the activities described in para2 graph (2)(B) of this subsection. 

3 (5) SUNSET.—The interagency working group 

4 established under paragraph (1) shall terminate on 

5 the date that is 5 years after the date that it is es6 tablished. 

Æ 


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