I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 382 
To amend the Department of Agriculture program for research and extension 
grants to increase participation by women and underrepresented minori-
ties in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics 
to redesignate the program as the ‘‘Jeannette Rankin Women and Mi-
norities in STEM Fields Program’’. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 9, 2017 
Ms. MENG (for herself and Mr. ZINKE) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 
A BILL 
To amend the Department of Agriculture program for re-
search and extension grants to increase participation by 
women and underrepresented minorities in the fields of 
science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to re-
designate the program as the ‘‘Jeannette Rankin Women 
and Minorities in STEM Fields Program’’. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘100 Years of Women 
in Congress Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The first woman elected to Congress, Rep-
resentative Jeannette Rankin from Montana, was 
elected on November 7, 1916, almost four years 
prior to ratification of the 19th Amendment to the 
U.S. Constitution giving women the right to vote. 
(2) Jeannette Rankin was not only a pioneer in 
national electoral politics, she was also a pioneer as 
a woman in science, graduating from the University 
of Montana in 1902 with a Bachelor of Science de-
gree in biology. 
(3) 100 years after the swearing-in of 
Jeannette Rankin, 109 women serve in the 115th 
Congress, more than at any other time in our Na-
tion’s history. While this improvement is commend-
able, women hold only 20 percent of the seats in 
Congress, far below their relative share of the Amer-
ican electorate. 
(4) According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Sta-
tistics, women make up 47 percent of the total U.S. 
workforce. Gains have been made in the science, 
technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) 
fields over time, but women still comprise only 39 
percent of chemists and material scientists, 28 per-
cent of environmental scientists and geoscientists, 16 
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percent of chemical engineers, and 12 percent of 
civil engineers. 
(5) More must be done to encourage women to 
run for elected office and to enter STEM fields. 
SEC. 3. JEANNETTE RANKIN WOMEN AND MINORITIES IN 
STEM FIELDS PROGRAM. 
Paragraph (7) of section 1672(d) of the Food, Agri-
culture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 
5925(d)(7)) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(7) JEANNETTE RANKIN WOMEN AND MINORI-
TIES IN STEM FIELDS PROGRAM.—Research and ex-
tension grants may be made under this section to in-
crease participation by women and underrepresented 
minorities from rural areas in the fields of science, 
technology, engineering, and mathematics, with pri-
ority given to eligible institutions that carry out con-
tinuing programs funded by the Secretary. Any 
grant made under this paragraph shall be known 
and designated as a ‘Jeannette Rankin Women and 
Minorities in STEM Fields Program Grant’.’’. 
Æ 
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