Supporting Veterans in STEM Careers Act

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 425) to promote veteran involvement in STEM education, computer science, and scientific research, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 425, the bill now under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 425, the Supporting Veterans in STEM Careers Act.

I want to thank Mr. Dunn and Mr. Lamb for introducing this important legislation.

Now, more than ever, U.S. global competitiveness depends on our ability to grow and sustain a STEM-capable workforce poised to meet the needs of the private sector. With an economy that is rapidly evolving and increasingly reliant on big data automation and advanced technologies, the workforce is struggling to keep up.

Although STEM careers offer good pay and job security, companies across all sectors report having difficulty recruiting workers with the skills that they need.

The good news is veterans and transitioning servicemembers represent a group of highly trained individuals with STEM knowledge base and skill sets employers need. The question is how to get more veterans to produce STEM degrees and join the STEM workforce.

H.R. 425 addresses this question by supporting research to identify and lower barriers for veterans transitioning from military to civilian work environments. The bill directs the National Science Foundation to develop a comprehensive plan for outreach to veterans with the goal of increasing veteran participation in the agency STEM education and research programs.

It also requires NSF, in its biennial Science and Engineering Indicators report, to publish available data on veterans in STEM studies and careers.

Further, the bill adds veterans as a target demographic for outreach under several existing NSF programs, including the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program.

Finally, H.R. 425 creates an interagency committee on veterans in STEM and directs the creation of a strategic plan for transitioning and training veterans and military spouses into STEM careers.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 425 will help us cement our global leadership by ensuring more veterans with the STEM skills we need are able to translate their talent into STEM careers. I strongly urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Lamb).

Mr. Speaker, I have no more speakers, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank Dr. Dunn for introducing this bill again, and we will work hard to see this through to the end.

I thank Mr. Lamb for his comments. It is certainly something that I have experienced, which is employers needing to find more workers. The men and women who are coming out of our armed services have those skills that are needed. We just need to give them a little more help to get them connected. This bill does that.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend from Oklahoma, Mr. Lucas, for yielding to me.

H.R. 425, the Supporting Veterans in STEM Careers Act, is about helping expand veterans' job and education opportunities in the sciences. The bill directs the National Science Foundation to develop a veterans outreach plan and publish data on veterans' participation in mathematics, science, and technology in its annual ``Science and Engineering Indicators'' report.

The bill also updates the NSF Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program, its fellowship programs, and the cyber grant programs to include outreach to veterans.

Additionally, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy is tasked with overseeing an interagency working group to examine how to increase veteran participation in the STEM career fields, including addressing any barriers for both servicemembers and their spouses.

In the next 5 years, between 1 million and 1.5 million members of the Armed Forces will separate from the military, according to the Department of Defense. Many of these veterans will be seeking new careers, and by a great margin, veterans cite finding employment as their number-one need when separating from Active-Duty service.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, occupations in STEM fields are projected to grow to more than 9 million jobs by 2022. Research shows that many military veterans already have skills and training that align with STEM careers, particularly in the area of information technology.

However, it also shows that veterans face many barriers as they reenter the workforce, including a lack of formal certified STEM education, career guidance, and the difficult task of transferring military credits to civilian college credits.

Our Nation's veterans deserve every opportunity to transition to a rewarding and successful civilian life. This bill will help all servicemembers continue to serve our Nation in new ways by fulfilling 21st century jobs and keeping America on the cutting edge of innovation.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Lamb, a fellow member of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee and a Marine Corps veteran, for cosponsoring this bipartisan legislation. And I salute my fellow veterans on the Science, Space, and Technology Committee who joined me in introducing this bill.

Last year, the House passed this legislation by an overwhelming margin, but we did not make it across the finish line in the Senate. This year, we have a bipartisan companion bill in the Senate, introduced by my home State Senator Marco Rubio and Senator Amy Klobuchar.

Mr. Speaker, I believe that now is the time to get this done to help our Nation's veterans. I urge my colleagues to pass this bill and the Senate to act on it and send H.R. 425 to the President's desk.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to support veterans in STEM careers.

First, I would like to thank the gentleman from Florida, Dr. Dunn, for his leadership in helping connect veterans to these good jobs.

Veterans are working today. Most Americans are working today. The unemployment rate is low. And yet everywhere I go, I meet businesspeople who tell me that they can't find the right workers for the right jobs at the right time. If we could fix this, we would stop being held back by the shortage of workforce that we face, and, most importantly, our families would not be held back by lower paychecks.

But these new jobs in cybersecurity, in medical technology, in advanced manufacturing, they are hard jobs and they require training.

We need to make the training available to people where they live at a cost that they can actually afford. We have no time to waste.

Our businesses are competing on a global stage against countries that will use the full machinery of their governments to make sure their workforces are ready. We need to meet their efforts with an even greater one.

Luckily, we already have a workforce that will go anywhere and do anything. When it comes to hard work, these folks are fearless. That is the veteran population here in the United States.

Marine officers are trained that if we are given an order to move that mountain over there, no sooner is the order completed than we are leading 100 marines down the road with shovels.

I still have great faith in the ability of 100 marines with shovels, but what we really need today are hundreds of thousands of veterans who can 3D print those shovels, put them in the hands of robots, program them to go down the road, and defend the entire network from foreign intrusion.

These are the jobs of today and tomorrow. These are the jobs that will support our families. Most importantly, these are the jobs that will grow the new middle class.

We want to make sure veterans get these jobs. To do that, we are going to use this bill to turn to the National Science Foundation. The National Science Foundation was born in the aftermath of World War II to make sure that we led the world in science and math, and the most important advancements. We knew that if we did that, we could make our country safe, healthy, and strong.

If we are going to continue that mission in the new generation, we will need veterans to lead the way.

We do have a global competition on our hands, Mr. Speaker, and I know we can win it if we have the veterans with us. This bill will help them, and I urge all my colleagues to come together to pass it.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Dr. Neal Dunn and Congressman Conor Lamb for their work to support our Nation's veterans.

H.R. 425 will help veterans put their training and experience in military service to new and important uses and help America stay competitive in research and innovation on a global scale.

In the last decade alone, jobs requiring some level of STEM expertise have grown by more than 30 percent, including jobs that do not require a bachelor's degree.

Nearly 7 million jobs are unfulfilled in the United States due to a shortage of skilled workers, many in STEM and related fields.

In my State of Oklahoma, our universities estimate we have 2,000 open engineering jobs. At the same time, veterans and transitioning servicemembers represent a valuable, skilled talent pool from which to meet this critical need.

H.R. 425 will improve outreach to veterans through the National Science Foundation's programs to support and train STEM workers. We can serve our veterans and help them translate their experience into meaningful STEM work.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Dunn), one of the great proponents of veterans and a great proponent of moving us forward in the scientific perspective in this Congress.

Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers. I note that I think the gentleman from Florida, Dr. Dunn, very eloquently summed it up just moments ago. Veterans deserve every opportunity to transition back and to utilize those skills.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 425, the Supporting Veterans in STEM Careers Act. I commend Mr. Dunn and Mr. Lamb for their leadership in bringing this important legislation to the floor. As Chair of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee I am committed to supporting a strong STEM workforce. In light of increasing global competition, we must do more to ensure workers are equipped with the STEM skills and knowledge employers need.

Veterans are a highly trained and highly motivated group. They have the skills, the determination, and the know-how to thrive in high- paying, secure STEM careers. H.R. 425 directs the National Science Foundation and the Office of Science and Technology Policy to leverage existing data and programs to better support veterans in their transition to the STEM workforce. We need all hands on deck if we are to maintain our standing as the global leader in innovation. H.R. 425 is a good step in that direction. I urge my colleagues to join me in support of this bill.