[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 321 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        H.R.321

                     One Hundred Fifteenth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE FIRST SESSION

          Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
          the third day of January, two thousand and seventeen


                                 An Act


 
   To inspire women to enter the aerospace field, including science, 
    technology, engineering, and mathematics, through mentorship and 
                                outreach.

    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 ``Inspiring the Next Space Pioneers, 
Innovators, Researchers, and Explorers (INSPIRE) Women Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
    The Congress finds that--
        (1) NASA GIRLS and NASA BOYS are virtual mentoring programs 
    using commercially available video chat programs to pair National 
    Aeronautics and Space Administration mentors with young students 
    anywhere in the country. NASA GIRLS and NASA BOYS give young 
    students the opportunity to interact and learn from real engineers, 
    scientists, and technologists.
        (2) The Aspire to Inspire (A2I) program engages young girls to 
    present science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) 
    career opportunities through the real lives and jobs of early 
    career women at NASA.
        (3) The Summer Institute in Science, Technology, Engineering, 
    and Research (SISTER) program at the Goddard Space Flight Center is 
    designed to increase awareness of, and provide an opportunity for, 
    female middle school students to be exposed to and explore 
    nontraditional career fields with Goddard Space Flight Center women 
    engineers, mathematicians, scientists, technicians, and 
    researchers.
SEC. 3. SUPPORTING WOMEN'S INVOLVEMENT IN THE FIELDS OF AEROSPACE AND 
SPACE EXPLORATION.
    The Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration shall encourage women and girls to study science, 
technology, engineering, and mathematics, pursue careers in aerospace, 
and further advance the Nation's space science and exploration efforts 
through support of the following initiatives:
        (1) NASA GIRLS and NASA BOYS.
        (2) Aspire to Inspire.
        (3) Summer Institute in Science, Technology, Engineering, and 
    Research.
SEC. 4. PLAN.
    Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Administrator shall submit to the Committee on Science, Space, and 
Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a plan for how NASA 
can best facilitate and support both current and retired astronauts, 
scientists, engineers, and innovators, including early career female 
astronauts, scientists, engineers, and innovators, to engage with K-12 
female STEM students and inspire the next generation of women to 
consider participating in the fields of science, technology, 
engineering, and mathematics and to pursue careers in aerospace. This 
plan shall--
        (1) report on existing activities with current and retired NASA 
    astronauts, scientists, engineers, and innovators;
        (2) identify how NASA could best leverage existing authorities 
    to facilitate and support current and retired astronaut, scientist, 
    engineer, and innovator participation in NASA outreach efforts;
        (3) propose and describe a program specific to retired 
    astronauts, scientists, engineers, and innovators; and
        (4) identify any additional authorities necessary to institute 
    such a program.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.