[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3495 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3495

To amend the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 to 
      designate certain research and extension grants to increase 
participation by women and underrepresented minorities in the fields of 
science, technology, engineering, and mathematics as ``Jeannette Rankin 
             Women and Minorities in STEM Fields Grants''.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            December 5, 2016

Mr. Daines (for himself and Mr. Tester) introduced the following bill; 
  which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, 
                        Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 to 
      designate certain research and extension grants to increase 
participation by women and underrepresented minorities in the fields of 
science, technology, engineering, and mathematics as ``Jeannette Rankin 
             Women and Minorities in STEM Fields Grants''.

    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 ``100 Years of Women in Congress 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The first woman elected to Congress, Representative 
        Jeannette Rankin from the State of Montana, was elected on 
        November 7, 1916, almost 4 years before the ratification of the 
        19th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which 
        gave women the right to vote.
            (2) Jeannette Rankin was not only a pioneer in national 
        electoral politics, she was also a pioneer as a woman in 
        science, graduating from the University of Montana in 1902 with 
        a Bachelor of Science degree in biology.
            (3)(A) 100 years after the election of Jeannette Rankin, 
        108 women serve in the 114th Congress, more than at any other 
        time in the history of the United States.
            (B) While that accomplishment is commendable, women hold 
        only 20 percent of the seats in Congress, far below the 
        relative share of women in the electorate of the United States.
            (4) According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics--
                    (A) women make up 47 percent of the total workforce 
                of the United States; and
                    (B) gains have been made for women in the science, 
                technology, engineering, and mathematics (referred to 
                in this section as ``STEM'') fields over time, but 
                women still comprise only--
                            (i) 39 percent of chemists and material 
                        scientists;
                            (ii) 28 percent of environmental scientists 
                        and geoscientists;
                            (iii) 16 percent of chemical engineers; and
                            (iv) 12 percent of civil engineers.
            (5) More must be done to encourage women to run for elected 
        office and to enter the STEM fields.

SEC. 3. JEANNETTE RANKIN WOMEN AND MINORITIES IN STEM FIELDS GRANTS.

    Section 1672(d)(7) of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and 
Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5925(d)(7)) is amended--
            (1) by striking the paragraph heading and inserting 
        ``Jeannette rankin women and minorities in stem fields 
        grants'';
            (2) by striking ``Research'' and inserting the following:
                    ``(A) In general.--Research''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(B) Designation.--Any grant made under 
                subparagraph (A) shall be known as a `Jeannette Rankin 
                Women and Minorities in STEM Fields Grant'.''.
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