Title: Building Indigenous STEM Professionals Act
Policy area: Native Americans

Summary:
Building Indigenous STEM Professionals Act
This bill expands the grant program for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs that benefit Native American students. Under current law, this program only applies to programs that benefit Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians. The bill expands grant eligibility to include programs that benefit American Indians.
Additionally, the bill authorizes grants under the program for the creation of new programs for the development of Native American STEM professionals.
The bill also revises how programs are prioritized for awarding grants. The bill gives priority to programs in which 70% or more of the participants are Native Americans.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2037 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2037

To amend the STEM education program for American Indian, Alaska Native, 
  and Native Hawaiian students under the Higher Education Act of 1965.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 27, 2019

  Ms. Murkowski (for herself and Mr. Schatz) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, 
                     Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the STEM education program for American Indian, Alaska Native, 
  and Native Hawaiian students under the Higher Education Act of 1965.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Building Indigenous STEM 
Professionals Act''.

SEC. 2. IMPROVING SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS 
              EDUCATION WITH A FOCUS ON AMERICAN INDIAN, ALASKA NATIVE, 
              AND NATIVE HAWAIIAN STUDENTS.

    Section 819 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1161j) 
is amended--
            (1) in the section heading, by striking ``alaska native and 
        native hawaiian'' and inserting ``american indian, alaska 
        native, and native hawaiian'';
            (2) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ``Alaska Natives and 
        Native Hawaiians'' and inserting ``American Indians, Alaska 
        Natives, and Native Hawaiians to enable them to succeed in 
        these fields'';
            (3) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), (3), and 
                (4), as paragraphs (2), (4), (5), and (6), 
                respectively;
                    (B) by inserting before paragraph (2), as 
                redesignated by subparagraph (A), the following:
            ``(1) Native american.--The term `Native American' includes 
        Alaska Natives, American Indians, and Native Hawaiians.'';
                    (C) by inserting after paragraph (2), as 
                redesignated by subparagraph (A), the following:
            ``(3) American indian.--The term `American Indian' has the 
        meaning given the term `Indian' in section 202 of the Indian 
        Land Consolidation Act (25 U.S.C. 2201).'';
            (4) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) by inserting ``create or'' after ``to enable 
                the eligible partnership to'';
                    (B) by inserting ``Native American'' after ``the 
                development of''; and
                    (C) by striking ``, including existing programs for 
                Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian students'';
            (5) in subsection (d)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``Alaska Native 
                or Native Hawaiian students'' and inserting ``programs 
                that serve Native American students'';
                    (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ``Alaska Native 
                and Native Hawaiian students'' and inserting ``programs 
                that serve Native American students''; and
                    (C) in paragraph (3), by striking ``Alaska Native 
                or Native Hawaiian students'' and inserting ``Native 
                American students'';
            (6) in subsection (f), by striking ``30 percent or more of 
        the program participants are Alaska Native or Native Hawaiian'' 
        and inserting ``70 percent or more of the program participants 
        are Native American''; and
            (7) in subsection (i), by striking ``2009'' and inserting 
        ``2020''.
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