100 Years of Women in Congress Act

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 382) to amend the Department of Agriculture program for research and extension grants to increase participation by women and underrepresented minorities in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to redesignate the program as the ``Jeannette Rankin Women and Minorities in STEM Fields Program''.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I am glad to stand here with the gentlewoman from Delaware (Ms. Blunt Rochester), another one of our new colleagues on the House Committee on Agriculture, in support of H.R. 382, the 100 Years of Women in Congress Act.

This legislation would honor a true pioneer of American politics by naming an important agricultural research program at the U.S. Department of Agriculture as the Jeannette Rankin Women and Minorities in STEM Fields Program. This competitive research grant program is designed to increase participation by women and underrepresented minorities from rural areas in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. I can think of no better person to identify with this important program than former Representative Rankin, who was the first woman to serve in this great institution, the United States House of Representatives, an achievement made even more significant by the fact that Ms. Rankin was elected to Congress several years prior to the ratification of the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote.

I urge all of my colleagues to support this important piece of legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

House of Representatives, Committee on Science, Space,

and Technology,

Washington, DC, March 16, 2017.

Hon. Michael Conaway,

Chairman, Committee on Agriculture, House of Representatives,

Washington, DC.

Dear Mr. Chairman: I am writing concerning H.R. 382, the

``100 Years of Women in Congress Act,'' which was introduced

on January 9, 2017.

H.R. 382 contains provisions within the Committee on

Science, Space, and Technology's Rule X jurisdiction. In

order to expedite this bill for floor consideration, the

Committee on Science, Space, and Technology will forego

action on the bill. This is being done on the basis of our

mutual understanding that doing so will in no way diminish or

alter the jurisdiction of the Committee on Science, Space,

and Technology with respect to the appointment of conferees,

or to any future jurisdictional claim over the subject

matters contained in the bill or similar legislation.

I would appreciate your response to this letter confirming

this understanding, and would request that you include a copy

of this letter and your response in the Congressional Record

during the floor consideration of this bill. Thank you in

advance for your cooperation.

Sincerely,

Lamar Smith,

Chairman.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

I would be remiss if I didn't thank my colleague, who I was sworn in with in January of 2013 when she raised her right hand, as I did, on this floor to join this great institution, my colleague, Grace Meng, for being the sponsor of this piece of legislation. I thank Grace for her leadership, and also Ms. Blunt Rochester, the first woman elected to serve in this institution from the State of Delaware. It is humbling and an honor for me to be able to stand here and help manage this piece of legislation. She should be very proud of what she is doing today.

Madam Speaker, I urge all Members to join me in support of this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to my distinguished colleague from the State of New York (Ms. Meng), the sponsor of this legislation.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise in support of H.R. 382, the 100 Years of Women in Congress Act.

This bipartisan legislation will recognize the work that Jeannette Rankin, the first woman elected to Congress in 1916, accomplished fighting for women's rights. It will rename the USDA's Women and Minorities in STEM Fields Program to the Jeannette Rankin Women and Minorities in STEM Fields Grant Program. In our time, it is critical that we encourage more women to enter STEM fields across this country. In receiving a bachelor's degree in biology before women even had the right to vote, she set an example for those who followed her to follow their passions for science and to achieve impactful leadership roles.

As I travel through Delaware, one of the consistent messages that I hear from businesses and universities is the need for more engineers. We have a wealth of knowledge in our young girls who are demanding rigorous programs that put them in place for rewarding careers. These types of programs match the boundless enthusiasm with concrete steps towards achieving meaningful career goals that benefit our entire country.

My sister, Thea, demonstrates the impact of successful STEM education from organizations like the Forum to Advance Minority Engineers--FAME-- for schoolchildren in Delaware, to her attending an HBCU as an engineering major, and in her career spent serving our country as an engineer with the Army.

My late husband Charles received undergraduate and graduate degrees in mechanical and aerospace engineering. Those degrees gave him the opportunity to travel the world as an engineer and give back to the energy sector.

However, my family and I know that the answer doesn't simply end with STEM. It is also about incorporating the arts into one's education in the form of STEAM, where we can see the balance that a quality education provides.

In my experiences, as the first woman elected to Congress from Delaware, I understand the challenges that come with trying to break through barriers. That is why this legislation and the impact of getting more young women to pursue STEM and STEAM careers is so deeply personal to me.

As Congresswoman Jeannette Rankin said before taking her oath of office in 1917--nearly 4 years before women had even gained the right to vote through the 19th Amendment--as you heard before, she said: ``I may be the first woman to be a Member of Congress, but I won't be the last.''

I am honored to serve as one of the more than 300 women to follow her lead. When we look to history to guide us in challenging moments, we will look to people like Congresswoman Jeannette Rankin, and I am confident she would be honored to have her name associated with this legislation and its aims.

I thank the sponsors, and I thank my colleagues on the other side of the aisle for this bipartisan work.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I urge all Members as well to support passage of H.R. 382, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I am so pleased to be here today to celebrate the 100th anniversary of women serving in Congress.

I thank the Speaker for allowing this legislation to come to the floor. And I thank my good friend and former colleague, Secretary Zinke, for authoring this legislation with me. His support has been instrumental in ensuring the consideration of this bill, and I am deeply grateful to him.

One hundred years ago, Jeannette Rankin was sworn in as a Member of the United States House of Representatives. She was the first woman elected to Congress, and was elected before passage of the 19th amendment which granted women the right to vote.

Jeannette Rankin was a trailblazer her entire life. In 1902, she graduated from the University of Montana with a degree in biology. Afterward, she became active in the women's suffrage movement, moving to New York City and assisting in the founding of the New York Women's Suffrage Party and working for the National American Woman Suffrage Association.

Rankin would eventually return to her home State of Montana, and was elected to office in the congressional election of 1916. Upon winning, she declared: ``I may be the first woman Member of Congress, but I won't be the last.''

I am happy to say that she was right.

In recognition of Congresswoman Jeannette Rankin's many accomplishments, and in celebration of the centennial anniversary of her service in Congress, Secretary Zinke and I introduced the 100 Years of Women in Congress Act.

Because Jeannette Rankin was a woman of science more than 100 years before our current push to have more women enter STEM fields, we felt it appropriate to rename the Department of Agriculture's Women and Minorities in STEM Fields Program after her.

This program currently supports collaborative research projects at institutions of higher education, and seeks to increase the participation of women and minorities from rural areas in STEM fields. It will continue to do so in the future, but now it will also recognize the many contributions Jeannette Rankin made to American life.

Madam Speaker, thank you again for allowing this legislation to the floor today, and thank you again to Secretary Zinke for partnering with me on it.

I urge all of my colleagues to support this measure.