Date: 2012-03-26
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) alternative budget. The CBC Budget proposes an additional $10 billion in funding for general Science. Space and Technology activities. Specifically. this funding will apply towards agencies I oversee as Ranking Member of the Committee. such as NASA. the National Science Foundation and NIST. and to many programs we specifically authorized in the America COMPETES Act and the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act. including Noyce Scholarships. the ADVANCE program for women faculty. Graduate Research Fellowships. and many other important research and STEM education related programs. The CBC Budget also invests an additional $2 billion towards Energy providing additional funding for the Advanced Research Projects Agency at the Department of Energy which also falls under my Committees jurisdiction. We all know that our nations future strength is directly dependent upon our commitment to a robust science agenda. As Members of the Congressional Black Caucus. we urge support for programs that broaden participation in science. technology. engineering and mathematics. also called STEM. As we call for increased funding for programs which broaden participation for STEM. we are concerned that the Administrations FY2013 budget holds funding for these critical programs flat even as other STEM programs grow and new ones are created. We remain concerned that we still have not actually moved the needle much in terms of participation in STEM by underrepresented groups nationwide. Given the low participation by these groups in most STEM disciplines. the changing demographics of this country are going to catch up with us very soon with respect to having a STEMskilled workforce for 21st Century jobs. In some industries we are already seeing a troubling skills gap that will only become worse if we dont broaden participation in STEM by minorities. and women for that matter. As the first African American and first female Ranking Member of the Committee on Science. Space. and Technology. broadening participation in STEM remains a top priority of mine. Broadening participation is not a minority issue or a gender issue. it is a national competitiveness issue we all must work to address for our countrys benefit. The underrepresentation of women and minority groups in STEM fields is a severe impediment to the formation of an adequate American STEM workforce. The increased education and participation of this segment of the workforce is essential to supplying the American economy with the STEM expertise the country needs to innovate and remain competitive. In 2008. the US Census Bureau recorded AfricanAmericans. Hispanics. and Native Americans as making up 28.2 percent of the US population. and yet. these groups only represent a mere 10 percent of the science and technology workforce. By the year 2050. minorities are predicted to represent 55 percent of the college population. As a Caucus we support funding increases in programs which broaden participation in the sciences. Lowincome and minority communities bear a disproportionate share of the national shortfall of highly qualified STEM teachers. Schools in these areas often lack adequate facilities such as science laboratories and other college preparatory tools that cultivate a handson. interactive learning environment. Of great importance to us are funding and programmatic focus on highneed areas. lowincome populations. and underrepresented groups wherever possible. We are pleased and supportive of the many provisions within the America COMPETES Act Reauthorization of 2010 which will result in improving the effectiveness and impact of activities to broaden participation across the entire $6 billion in research grants at the National Science Foundation. However. in order to expand participation of minorities in the sciences we still have some work to do. We need to strengthen the capacity of community colleges in which many of our students are enrolled. We need to award more grants directly to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) involved in research collaborations. enabling these institutions to build their research capacity in ways that serve their own faculty and students best. We should provide more scholarships and other avenues to decrease the financial burden many African American students disproportionally face. Finally. we need to support programs which will lead to more African American teachers and mentors. Mr. Speaker. as you know my commitment to priorities of the Congressional Black Caucus remains strong and as Ranking Member of the Committee on Science. Space and Technology I look forward to continuing to work with the Administration to identify solutions to new. or persistent issues that threaten to set our nation back even as we continue to look forward to our future.