IV 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 29 
Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding the need for increased diver-
sity and inclusion in the tech sector, and increased access to opportunity 
in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) 
education. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 16, 2017 
Ms. LEE (for herself, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Mr. RICHMOND, Ms. 
MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM of New Mexico, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. 
KHANNA, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE 
JOHNSON of Texas, and Ms. KELLY of Illinois) submitted the following 
concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Education 
and the Workforce 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding the need 
for increased diversity and inclusion in the tech sector, 
and increased access to opportunity in science, tech-
nology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) 
education. 
Whereas there will be 1,400,000 new tech jobs by 2020, how-
ever, 70 percent of those jobs will be unfulfilled at the 
rate United States universities are currently producing 
qualified graduates; 
Whereas in 2013, the United States slipped to 10th place 
among Organization for Economic Co-operation and De-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
02:54 Feb 17, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HC29.IH
HC29
emcdonald on DSK9F6TC42PROD with BILLS
•HCON 29 IH 
velopment (OECD) nations in overall research and devel-
opment as a percentage of gross domestic product 
(GDP); 
Whereas communities of color (African-Americans, Latinos, 
Native Americans, Asian Americans, and Pacific Island-
ers) are woefully underrepresented in corporate leader-
ship roles, including the technology sector; 
Whereas African-Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, and 
Pacific Islanders are disproportionately underrepresented 
in the technology sector; 
Whereas African-Americans and Latinos make up 27 percent 
of the United States workforce, but make up only 13.8 
percent of the science and engineering workforce, and 
only 11 percent of computer science professionals; 
Whereas women make up 57.7 percent of the United States 
workforce, but make up only 46.0 percent of the science 
and engineering workforce, and only 24 percent of com-
puter science professionals; 
Whereas women of color represent less than 10 percent of all 
computer science professionals (African-American: 2.6 
percent; Hispanic: 1.3 percent; American Indian or Alas-
ka Native: less than 0.02 percent; and Asian: 6 percent); 
Whereas 50 to 70 percent of employees in tech companies 
work in non-tech positions, for which an existing pipeline 
of qualified African-American and Latinos currently ex-
ists; 
Whereas a pipeline of qualified technical candidates is critical 
as the tech industry improves its recruiting, hiring, and 
retaining candidates and employees of color; 
Whereas underrepresented minority students overall face an 
opportunity gap in STEAM education; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
02:54 Feb 17, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HC29.IH
HC29
emcdonald on DSK9F6TC42PROD with BILLS
•HCON 29 IH 
Whereas women of color particularly face an achievement gap 
in science and engineering education; 
Whereas in 2012, women received 48.8 percent of all bach-
elor’s degrees in science and engineering majors; 
Whereas in 2012, women of color received only 15.7 percent 
of all bachelor’s degrees in science and engineering ma-
jors (African-American: 5.3 percent; Hispanic: 5.5 per-
cent; American Indian or Alaska Native: 0.3 percent, and 
Asian or Pacific Islander: 4.6 percent); 
Whereas women overall face a large opportunity gap in com-
puter science; 
Whereas in 2012, women received only 18 percent of all 
bachelor’s degrees in computer science; 
Whereas in 2012, women of color received only 6.6 percent 
of all bachelor’s degrees in computer science (African- 
American: 3.0 percent; Hispanic: 1.7 percent; American 
Indian or Alaska Native: 0.1 percent, and Asian or Pa-
cific Islander: 1.8 percent); 
Whereas the opportunity and achievement gap between boys 
and girls starts early; 
Whereas in 2015, less than 15 percent of high schools offered 
the Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science course; 
Whereas in 2015, only 22 percent of AP Computer Science 
test takers were girls, and 13 percent were African-Amer-
ican or Latino; and 
Whereas there is a dearth of disaggregated data to show aca-
demic attainment across different Asian American and 
Pacific Islander communities: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That Congress supports efforts to— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
02:54 Feb 17, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\HC29.IH
HC29
emcdonald on DSK9F6TC42PROD with BILLS
•HCON 29 IH 
(1) increase diversity and inclusion in the tech-
nology sector, including robust plans to ensure re-
cruitment, training, and retention of underrep-
resented minorities at all levels, from the boardroom 
to the senior executive level, to rank and file employ-
ees, as well as vendors; 
(2) eliminate barriers faced by people of color, 
and other underrepresented groups when breaking 
into the technology sector; 
(3) ensure all students have access to science, 
technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics 
(STEAM) education for a 21st century economy, in-
cluding computer science education in particular; 
(4) strengthen investments in, and collabora-
tions with educational institutions including commu-
nity colleges, Historically Black Colleges and Univer-
sities, Hispanic-serving institutions, Asian American 
and Native American Pacific Islander-serving insti-
tutions, American Indian Tribally controlled colleges 
and universities, Alaska Native and Native Hawai-
ian-serving institutions, predominantly Black institu-
tions, Native American-serving, Nontribal institu-
tions, and other minority-serving institutions to sus-
tain a pipeline of diverse STEAM graduates ready 
to enter the technology sector; and 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
02:54 Feb 17, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\HC29.IH
HC29
emcdonald on DSK9F6TC42PROD with BILLS
•HCON 29 IH 
(5) improve data collection, disaggregation, and 
dissemination of information for greater under-
standing and transparency of diversity in STEAM 
education and across the workforce. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
02:54 Feb 17, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\HC29.IH
HC29
emcdonald on DSK9F6TC42PROD with BILLS