Minority Serving Institution Digital and Wireless Technology Opportunity Act of 2007

Madam. Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 42: Passage of H. Res. 475. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

January 22, 2007

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 43: Table the appeal of the ruling of the Chair for H. Res. 476. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 44: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Agree to H. Res. No. 52. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 45: Motion to suspend the rules and Agreed to H.R. 390. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 46: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Agree to H. Res. 29. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

February 8, 2007

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 87: Agreeing to the Amendment of H.R. 547, and amendment to include language which encourages the Assistant Administrator to utilize Land Grant Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions and other minority serving institutions among other resources to undertake research for programs covered by the bill. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district. I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 88: Agreeing to the Amendment of H.R. 547, an amendment to add a new paragraph to section 3, Biofuel Infrastructure and Additives Research and Development, to include issues with respect to where in the fuel supply chain additives optimally should be added to fuels. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 89: Agreeing to the Amendment of H.R. 547, an amendment to add a new paragraph to section 3 which includes issues with respect to certification by a nationally recognized testing laboratory of components for fuel dispensing devices that specifically reference compatibility with alcohol blended and biofuels that contain greater than 15 percent alcohol. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 90: Agreeing to the Amendment of H.R. 547, an amendment to add a new section 7 entitled Additional Funding. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 91:

the Motion to Recommit with Instructions of H.R. 547. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 92: Passage of H.R. 547. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

February 28, 2007

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 111: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Agree on H. Con. Res. 52. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

March 12, 2007

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 136: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended on H.R. 85. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 137: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Agree on H. Res. 136. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 138: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Agree on H. Res. 89. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 187: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as amended on H.R. 802. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 188: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended on H.R. 137. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 189: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended on H.R. 580. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

May 14, 2007

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 342: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass on H.R. 1124. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 343: Motion to suspend the rules and agree to H. Res. 223. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 344: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Agree (H. Res. 385). Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

May 16, 2007

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 358: Call in Committee Quorum. Had I been present, I would have voted ``present.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 359: Motion that the Committee Rise (H.R. 1585). Had I been present, I would have voted ``no.''

June 11, 2007

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district. I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 448: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass on H.R. 2356. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 449: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Agree on S. 676. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district. I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 450: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Agree on H. Res. 418. Had I been present I would have voted ``yes.''

July 23, 2007

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 687: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 404, as amended. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 688: Motion to suspend the rules and agree to H. Res. 553. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 689: Motion to suspend the rules and agree to H. Res. 519. Had I been present I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 690: On ordering the previous question on H. Res. 558. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

August 1, 2007

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 781: Motion to adjourn. Had I been present. I would have voted ``no.''

september 4, 2007

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 847: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 694, as amended. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 848: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 3020, as amended. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 849: Motion to Instruct Conferees on H.R. 2669. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no.''

september 17, 2007

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 867: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 3246, as amended. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 868: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 1657, as amended. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 869: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 3527. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

october 1, 2007

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 924: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Agree on H. Res. 185. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 925: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 2276. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 926: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 3325. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

october 15, 2007

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 961: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Agree on H. Res. 738. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 962: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 2089. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 963: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 20, as amended. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

October 17, 2007

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 980: Passage of H.R. 2095. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

october 29, 2007

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 1010: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 3224, as amended. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 1011: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Agree on H. Res. 573, as amended. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 1012: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Agree on H. Res. 747. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

November 5, 2007

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 1034: Closing Portions of the Conference on H.R. 3222. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 1035: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 513, as amended. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 1036: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Agree on H. Res. 744. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

november 7, 2007

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 1058: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Agree on H. Con. Res. 236, as amended. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

november 13, 2007

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 1082: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 3315. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 1083: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 1593, as amended. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 1084: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 3403, as amended. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 1085: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 3461, as amended. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

november 14, 2007

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 1095: Motion to Adjourn. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no.''

december 6, 2007

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 1141: Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 2085. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support of H.R. 694, the Minority Serving Institution Digital and Wireless Technology Opportunity Act of 2007. Before I go any further, I want to take this time to personally thank my colleague, Randy Forbes of Virginia, for his longtime support and hard work on this bill.

This bipartisan bill seeks to improve technology instruction and enhance the communication network systems of minority serving institutions, many of which are located in poor, rural and isolated areas. Further, this important legislation seeks to deal with systemic disenfranchisement within minority communities by providing a means for partnership between MSIs and K-12 schools through teacher education, including the provision of preservice teacher training and in-service professional development. Under this legislation, MSIs are given an opportunity to further focus on disparities in access to quality higher education opportunities and the communities they serve.

Mr. Speaker, as public schools scramble to open for the fall term, principals and superintendents are frustrated by the stress of not having qualified math and science teachers. Just last week, the New York Times published an article entitled: Schools Scramble for Teachers Because of Spreading Turnover, and reported how tough it is to find good qualified teachers to teach science and math in low income neighborhoods. My bill, H.R. 694, will help to produce a new generation of world-class teachers of science and, mathematics and engineers.

Minority Serving Institutions play a unique role in the education of our diverse American workforce. According to a July 2005 House Committee on Science report, 21 percent of all college degrees and certificates awarded to African American, American Indian and Hispanic students are conferred by Minority Serving Institutions. Minority Serving Institutions also help underrepresented students succeed in all disciplines, science, mathematics, and engineering in particular. For example, of African-Americans earning bachelor's degrees in science, math, engineering or the technology field in 1996, 31 percent received them at an HBCU. Similarly, Hispanic-Serving Institutions produced 20 percent of science, math, engineering or technology bachelor's degrees awarded to Hispanics in 1996.

Minority Serving Institutions have special skills in serving their communities, which include large numbers of low-income or first generation college students. In fact, I am a graduate of North Carolina A&T, as are many of my colleagues here today in support of this bill are graduates of HBCUs and MSIs. Unlike other, larger institutions of higher education, MSIs typically have small or nonexistent endowments and few wealthy alumni. As a result, the ability to purchase and pay for the upkeep of the technology that will prepare these students for the workforce is especially challenging for many MSI.

Developing an educated and technologically literate workforce is an important part of our efforts to compete in an increasingly technology and information-based, global economy. Whether technology should be used in schools is no longer the issue. Rather, the current emphasis is on ensuring that technology is available and used effectively to create new opportunities.

For these reasons, I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 694, the Minority Serving Institution Digital and Wireless Technology Opportunity Act.

In closing, I want to especially thank the higher education community who over the past 8 years have tirelessly worked to make this bill become a reality. Specifically, I want to thank Dr. Michael L. Lomax of the United Negro College Fund, Lezli Baskerville of the National Association of Equal Opportunity in Higher Education, Antonio Flores of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, Gerald E. Gipp of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium, the Telecommunications Industry Association, Alcatel Lucent, and the many other advocates who have worked on this issue.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today on H.R. 694, the Minority Serving Institution Digital and Wireless Technology Opportunity Act of 2007, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

The legislation has been an initiative of my colleague, Mr. Forbes, for several years and I congratulate him and Representative Towns and my colleague, Representative Johnson, on getting the legislation brought to the floor for a vote.

The bill requires the Secretary to establish a program to provide grants to increase the use of digital and wireless networking technology for institutions of higher education that primarily serve minorities.

Having been on the board of a minority institution in Texas for many years, I like the intent of the legislation and I want to say a few words about it. The grants may be used for training, education and professional development programs to increase the use of digital and wireless technology or to obtain capacity-building technical assistance and distance learning services.

Additionally, the grants may be used to foster the use of digital and wireless networking technology to improve research and education, including scientific mathematics, engineering and technology instruction.

H.R. 694 will help to provide grants to promote crucial development and educational programs for minority-serving institutions. It will help to ensure that minority students will not fall behind in education on critical digital and wireless networking technology. It will also help to ensure access to the technology and the training programs on the use of these technologies.

While I am a longtime supporter of grants to improve education and training on digital and wireless networking technology, and I commend my colleagues on this very important initiative, I would be a little bit remiss if I didn't raise some concerns about the process of bringing this bill up and the price tag associated with it.

The bill was referred to the Committee on Science and Technology in February of this year and received an additional referral to the Committee on Education and Labor in June of this year; yet neither of these committees has had a chance to really review the legislation and to hold hearings and to go through the markup process. I am a strong believer in proper order and the

important role that committees of jurisdiction play to make improvements to legislation.

In addition to my concerns about the process, I am concerned about the authorization levels in the bill and the fact that it does not contain any opportunities for grants for rural colleges and universities which experience similar equipment shortages and could benefit from the use of distance learning.

The bill authorizes $250 million for fiscal year 2008 and then such sums as may be necessary from 2009 to 2012. There is no CBO score, but I think we can look at the authorization levels and determine that this is a lot of money for a very limited group of institutions.

Despite these feelings and despite these problems, and because of my longtime support of these types of programs, I will be supporting the passage of the bill and will vote for it, but I hope my colleagues on the other side of the aisle will address my concerns and the concerns others have as we move forward.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support of H.R. 694, the Minority Serving Institution Digital and Wireless Technology Opportunity Act of 2007, and I would start by thanking House Science Committee Chairman Bart Gordon and Ranking Member Ralph Hall for their work to pass this bill. Additionally, Representative Ed Towns has been a tireless advocate in moving this bill forward and it has been a pleasure working with him to pass this legislation.

This bill would establish a new grant program to provide funding of specific technologies to help ensure institutions like historically Black colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, and tribal colleges have the tools necessary to prepare their students to engage and participate in the increasingly global and competitive economy.

Now, more than ever, we are seeing other countries become increasingly competitive with the United States, with science and math scores equaling or exceeding average scores for American students.

Additionally, another example of the nature of the problem we face globally can be seen in the engineering field. By 2008, India is expected to increase to a little over 700,000 young engineering professionals and China is expected to increase to 2.1 million. Conversely, the U.S. is predicated to stay stagnate at 700,000 engineering young professionals by 2008 and other fields like life sciences are declining. This is a trend that cannot be allowed to continue if the United States wants to maintain its leadership role in the future global economy and graduate students that have the capacity to be this world's best and brightest.

One of the realities that we need to address in order to ensure this happens is to make sure all populations in this country have access to basic technologies, something that is currently not the case for all segments of the American population. Although 55 percent of the U.S. population has internet access at home overall, only 36 percent of African-American and Hispanic households do, according to a U.S. Census report issued in October 2005.

This bill would work to eliminate this ``digital divide'' by establishing a new grant program within the Department of Commerce to strengthen the ability of minority-serving institutions to purchase infrastructure and provide technology education services, providing students with the same access to technology as their peers at other colleges and universities.

This legislation is about even more than just equality in education; it is about economic advancement and ensuring that America retains its edge in the math, science and technology fields--a critically important requirement in today's global economy.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise in strong support of the Minority Serving Institution Digital and Wireless Opportunity Act of 2007. This bill authorizes grants to Minority Serving Institutions for technology improvements and infrastructure. Given the large gap in technology between MSI campuses and other American universities, this legislation is critical to improving MSI's educational advancements.

It is important to note that MSI's educational contributions are significant. For example, in 2000 at least 40 percent of all African American students who received a baccalaureate degree in physics, chemistry, astronomy, environmental sciences, mathematics and biology graduated from a historically Black college and university. Given their contributions to our society, we must do all we can to make sure that MSIs receive the most modern technology to keep up with other universities.

Unfortunately, at the current time, there is a ``digital divide'' between MSIs and other schools in technology infrastructure and programming. Less than half of the students attending Minority Serving Institutions own computers. Sadly, the majority of historically Black colleges and universities do not provide high speed access to the Internet [according to a Feb. 2004 report by the Alliance for Equity in Higher Education]. We also see this trend in minority communities around the country. Over 60 percent of the U.S. population uses the Internet at home, while only 46 percent of African Americans and 37 percent of Hispanics have Internet access at home [according to a Feb. 2004 report by the Alliance for Equity in Higher Education].

The Minority Serving Institution Digital and Wireless Opportunity Act of 2007 will help eliminate the technological disparities at MSIs by establishing a grant program. These grants will help MSIs purchase equipment, make upgrades and improve their technology infrastructure as well as provide technology education services. In addition, these grants will promote the use of information communications technology to strengthen engineering, math and science research.

I would like to thank Mr. Towns and Mr. Forbes for their efforts to bring this bill before Congress and their commitment to rectify this disparity. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 694.