[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7092 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7092

  To direct the Administrators of the National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration and the National Science Foundation to produce a report 
to Congress regarding the efforts to support minority women involvement 
                            in STEM fields.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 26, 2018

  Mr. Veasey introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
              Committee on Science, Space, and Technology

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To direct the Administrators of the National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration and the National Science Foundation to produce a report 
to Congress regarding the efforts to support minority women involvement 
                            in STEM fields.

    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 ``Minority Women in STEM Inclusion 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in an 
        article published in the May 2015 issue of Monthly Labor 
        Review, there is ``significant heterogeneity in the STEM labor 
        market: the academic sector is generally oversupplied, while 
        the government sector and private industry have shortages in 
        specific areas.''
            (2) Women of color, particularly Black women have made 
        significant progress in graduating from college in the areas of 
        study related to science, technology, engineering, and 
        mathematics.
            (3) Despite these gains, members of this group continue to 
        be underrepresented in the STEM fields of study and related 
        occupations, and in areas representation has remained flat or 
        has declined.
            (4) Bipartisan enactment of the Inspiring the Next Space 
        Pioneers, Innovators, Researchers, and Explorers (INSPIRE) 
        Women Act and the Promoting Women in Entrepreneurship Act 
        served as an important first step to inspire and engage women 
        and girls in certain programs administered by NASA and the NSF.
            (5) Research and other developments demonstrate the need to 
        build upon these 2 laws with intentional programs that optimize 
        outreach to and engagement of minority women and girls in STEM-
        related disciplines relevant to the public and private sectors.
            (6) According to a Pew Research Center report, Women and 
        Men in STEM Often at Odds Over Workplace Equality, released in 
        January 2018, Black and Hispanic workers continue to be 
        underrepresented in the STEM workforce. Blacks make up 11 
        percent of the U.S. workforce overall but represent 9 percent 
        of STEM workers, while Hispanics comprise 16 percent of the 
        U.S. workforce but only 7 percent of all STEM workers.
            (7) A report published by the National Science Foundation, 
        Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and 
        Engineering 2017 provides that the percentages are particularly 
        low for Black and Hispanic women, who make up 7 percent and 8 
        percent of the population respectively, but hold only 2 percent 
        of science and engineering occupations.
            (8) The hacking in 2018 of an all-Black female high school 
        team participating in a NASA competition revealed realities 
        unique to minority women participating in NASA programs and the 
        groundswell of enthusiasm supporting the increased engagement 
        of Black girls in NASA programs.
            (9) NASA and other science agencies have an opportunity to 
        translate lessons learned from this incident into programs that 
        increase engagement of underrepresented women and girls in its 
        programs.
            (10) Programs such as the Louis Stokes Alliance for 
        Minority Participation, and many other Federal programs, have 
        successfully engaged millions of underrepresented and 
        underserved students in STEM fields of study and related 
        outreach and programs. These and other federally supported 
        programs can be helpful in preparing a more robust pipeline of 
        women of color in STEM professions.

SEC. 3. REPORT ON NASA AND NSF EFFORTS TO SUPPORT WOMEN AND MINORITY 
              INVOLVEMENT IN STEM FIELDS.

    (a) In General.--The Administrator of NASA and the Administrator of 
the NSF shall each conduct a study that includes an analysis and 
description of ways to increase the participation of minority women 
within existing programs related to STEM fields carried out by NASA and 
the NSF, respectively.
    (b) Contents.--In carrying out the study required under subsection 
(a), the Administrators shall consider the following:
            (1) Scholarships, internships, mentoring, targeted high 
        school competitions, fellowships, faculty assignments, and 
        other support to encourage and engage minority women in STEM 
        areas of study throughout high school, university, graduate 
        education and the acquisition of faculty positions.
            (2) Resources to ensure minority women participate more 
        broadly in the full range of programs sponsored by each agency, 
        and as potential employees and high-potential leaders.
    (c) Report.--Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Administrator of NASA and the Administrator of the NSF 
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, and make publicly available on an 
internet website, a report that contains the results of the study 
required under subsection (a) and policy recommendations for Congress 
to consider to increase participation of minority women in STEM, 
including proposals for new programs, ways to expand existing programs, 
and potential increases in funding of existing programs.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    (a) STEM.--The term ``STEM'' means the academic and professional 
disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
    (b) NASA.--The term ``NASA'' means the National Aeronautics and 
Space Administration.
    (c) NSF.--The term ``NSF'' means the National Science Foundation.
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