[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 106 (Friday, July 31, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9531-S9533]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     EMPLOYEES OF THE 21ST CENTURY

  Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, during the 105th Session of Congress, my 
colleagues and I are addressing a broad range of high tech issues, 
including military, civilian, and commercial space issues. The industry 
supporting high technology products and services has become extremely 
important to our nation, and particularly in my home state of Colorado.
  Today I would like to take a look at the high-tech industry through 
global, national, state, and local perspectives, and relate the broader 
examples to Colorado. Colorado is a microcosm of the nation when you 
look at high-tech and the future of the industry. The prosperity, 
trends, and needs within the Colorado community are prime examples of 
what the entire nation is faced with.
  The growth-inducing power of technology at the industry level has 
been astonishing. In the United States, research-intensive industries, 
such as aerospace, chemicals, communications, computers, 
pharmaceuticals, scientific instruments, semiconductors, and software-
have been growing approximately twice the rate of the U.S. economy as a 
whole the past two decades. The high-tech world has also become 
extremely competitive. High-tech firms are now facing global 
competition, regional competition, and competition for jobs. There is 
every reason to believe that this trend will continue for at least the 
next decade.
  As competition increases locally and globally, we must field an 
educated workforce that can also be competitive. America's future 
economy depends on sustaining a competitive edge through greater 
development and knowledge. But there is growing concern that America is 
not prepared for this new economy.
  I would like to share some startling statistics revealing the serious 
lack of education in this country.
  Forty percent of our 8 year-olds cannot read.
  A Department of Education study concludes that 90 million adult 
Americans have limited information and quantitative skills. According 
to the American Society for Training and Development's 1997 ``State of 
the Industry Report,'' 50 percent of organizations now have to provide 
employee training in basic skills.
  U.S. students do not perform well in comparison with students in 
other countries. According to the Third International Mathematics and 
Science Study--a study of half a million children in 41 countries--U.S. 
eighth-graders had average mathematics scores that were well below 
those of 20 other countries. Although U.S. eighth-graders performed 
better in science, they were still outperformed by students in nine 
other countries.
  We are experiencing phenomenal growth in jobs for highly skilled 
information technology workers, yet there are mounting reports that 
industry is having great difficulty recruiting adequate numbers of 
workers with the skills in demand.
  We, as a society, need to find ways to counter these serious problems 
and work towards filling all of our employment needs.
  Due to increasing global competitiveness, our economy is creating 
millions of new jobs--more than 15 million new jobs since 1993. 
Employees are in demand due to this increased competitiveness, and of 
the 10 industries with the fastest employment growth from 1996-2006, 
computer and data processing services are number one on the list, 
according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Report of December 1997. In 
this field alone, there were 1. 2 million jobs in the United States in 
1996. This number is projected to rise to 2.5 million jobs in 2006. 
That represents a 108 percent increase in the next 8 years.
  Of the 10 occupations with the fastest employment growth from 1996-
2006, the top three occupations have some connection to the high tech 
industry. Database administrators, computer support specialists, and 
computer scientists had a population of 212,000 jobs in 1996, and are 
projected to be needed in 461,000 jobs in 2006, a 118 percent change. 
Computer engineers will see a 109 percent increase in jobs and systems 
analysts a 103 percent increase by the year 2006.
  This trend is representative of the high-tech employment needs of 
Colorado. We are facing a problem as the need for technical bachelors' 
degrees rises, because the number of students entering this field is 
not increasing at a rate to meet this need. In addition, the science 
and math scores needed to pursue technical degrees at higher education 
institutions are not being met by more and more students every year.
  If the trend continues as we expect it to, we will see an increasing 
lack of skilled employees to meet the industry's demand. The 
consequences of not filling these jobs could mean several things. One 
being that high-tech industry in the United States will not be globally 
competitive. Another being

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that we will need to continually find workers from out of the country 
to fill high-tech jobs, instead of giving those jobs to Americans. 
Whatever the consequences may be, we know that they will be substantial 
if we do not fill the employment needs of the high-tech industry.
  Colorado is seeing tremendous signs of growth in the technology 
arena. As an example, the City of Colorado Springs relies on high-tech 
for over 50% of its local economy. Complex electronics and information 
technology sectors support about 30% of the total local economy, and 
there is a strong defense sector presence which is heavily reliant on 
high tech employers and needs. 40% of the local economy in Colorado 
Springs is tied into the defense sector. Right now Colorado has 
effectively no unemployment in the engineering field. Between this year 
and 2006, information technology, telecommunications, information 
processing, software development, and systems engineering will all have 
employment needs that will more than double in the Colorado Springs 
area.
  The proper role of the government in high-tech and space issues is an 
ongoing debate. For example, Congress is considering now what access 
the government should have to encrypted stored computer data or 
electronic communications, and how to facilitate commercial space 
businesses.
  The United States is competing with several other countries in the 
high tech industry. There are five countries that we know have the 
ability to launch satellites, while many other countries have the 
technology to compete in other areas. Therefore, our workforce 
development must support the needs of our domestic industry to allow it 
to be competitive. Without growth in the United States technology 
industries, we will be surpassed by the technology of our competitors, 
and our commercial industry will ultimately rely on foreign companies 
for technology.
  One of the major debates in trying to fill the technology workforce 
needs deals with who should fill those needs when we cannot. The United 
States has come to depend on foreign-born engineers; we have reached 
the point where we import as many engineers as we graduate from our 
universities.
  Recently, my colleagues in the U.S. Senate and I approved the 
American Competitiveness Act of 1998. It raises the ceiling on the 
number of visas designated for high-tech workers, or H1-B visas, from 
65,000 to 95,000 in the fiscal year 1998, and then to 115,000 a year 
through 2002. This bill is partially in response to the ``year 2000'' 
problem and will help high-tech industries hire enough employees to 
effectively resolve the problem. But this is a short-term solution, and 
in the year 2002, Congress will reevaluate the number of H1-B 
applicants that this country allows in to work.
  The competitive edge that America needs depends on the knowledge 
attributes of our workforce. Due to the rapid changes in the high-tech 
field, we must focus on educating our youth. Educating students about 
the high-tech needs and changes our society faces will allow for 
adaptation and innovation. The industry's growth depends on the 
students that are entering universities with high scores in math and 
science. Employers are desperate for students with bachelors and 
advanced degrees in computer engineering, computer information systems, 
computer science, chemical engineering, and electrical engineering.
  We need to focus on improving the educational opportunities for every 
student, but we could especially make improvements by targeting under-
represented minorities. While a small amount of high school graduates, 
15%, have taken calculus and physics, only 6% of minority students have 
taken those classes, which are required for a college major in math, 
engineering or science. This year, universities graduated a record 
number African Americans, Latinos, and American Indians with 
engineering degrees, yet they constitute only 10% of all students with 
engineering degrees, and only 2.8% of doctorates. The number of female 
minorities in this category is even smaller. Only 2.8% of college 
engineering graduates and .6% of engineering doctorates went to 
minority women.
  The solution begins with our youngest students, kindergarten through 
12th grade. How do we more specifically improve our education system 
from K-12 so that children will eventually meet the standards that 
high-tech, and business in general, demand? It should be obvious that 
we first need to improve math and science interest and education, 
starting with increased teacher support. Knowledge of the subject 
matter and the ability to actually use technology need to be taught to 
our future teachers at universities across the country. Current 
teachers need access to continuing education and high-tech resources.
  We also must increase the number of teachers who are teaching math 
and science subjects. Projections show that there is going to be a 
severe teacher shortage in the years 2010-2025. We are going to face 
yet another crisis in high-tech workers and leaders if we do not 
encourage more math and science graduates to become math and science 
teachers. Without more and better math and science teachers our high-
tech teacher shortage will progressively worsen, and we will not be 
able to increase the number of students in math and science classes.
  Industry partnerships, which are successful in many university 
settings, can be very beneficial to younger students as well. The U.S. 
Space Foundation, which is based in Colorado, has been especially 
successful in cooperative programs with schools across the country with 
their support for math and science programs. Kids find it more 
interesting and fun if real life entities are tied into the classroom, 
and the U.S. Space Foundation facilitates this for the students and 
teachers. Rotating high-tech specialists and resources in classrooms 
will keep our teachers current and motivated. In addition, high school 
students are eligible for job opportunities and student internships in 
the workplace that require scientific knowledge and will increase their 
excitement for the field. With increased attention to our students, 
especially in regard to math and science, we can interest students in 
the world of technology.
  Another outstanding example of a partnership between school and 
industry is the Technology Student Association. The TSA is composed of 
over 150,000 elementary, middle, and high school students, in 2,000 
schools spanning 45 states, including Colorado. It is supported by 
educators, parents, and business leaders who believe in the need for a 
technologically literate society. Through leadership and fun problem-
solving, K-12 students are shown why increased education in math and 
science can pay off and be exciting. These partnerships are successful, 
and demonstrate one way we can start now to fill the technology 
workforce needs of the 21st Century.
  While it is imperative to encourage young students to be involved in 
math and science and to expose them to high-tech occupations, I am not 
suggesting support for school-to-work programs. School-to-work 
centralizes unprecedented powers at the federal level and requires 
federal standards and assessment testing which would be the basis of 
all our children's education, and this process would begin in 
kindergarten. Most importantly, school-to-work takes local elected 
officials of the states and local school boards out of the process of 
education. This alone could be devastating to businesses and 
specifically to high-tech industries. Local Boards and elected 
officials are well aware of the needs of their community in particular, 
and can adapt accordingly.
  Government does not need to set ``standards'' for children to 
determine their career paths, but instead improve those standards of 
existing education policies in order to raise test scores, and more 
specifically science and math scores. If we do so, our children will be 
inclined to attend higher education institutions where cooperative 
education and internship opportunities will be available to them, and 
we will be on our way to building a workforce that can compete 
globally.
  As more students graduate from high school with aptitude and interest 
in math and science we must have a college education system that will 
foster their interests and can propel them into the industry. 
Colorado's universities demonstrate how well-adapted programs can be to 
the regional industry.
  The space industry, in particular, is a crucial part of Colorado's 
economy,

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and in turn our state is one of the nation's leaders in space 
industries. The National Space Symposium, held annually in Colorado 
Springs, emphasizes the importance of technology in our state and 
nation. Space Command, Air Force Academy, and NASA, are some of the 
major presences. In addition, four space centers tied in with NASA are 
based in Northern Colorado: the Center for Aerospace Structure, 
Colorado Center for Aerospace Research, Center for Space Construction, 
and Bioserve Technologies, which produces hardware for the space 
shuttle.
  Our universities are aware of the need for high-tech education, and 
have focused on preparing students for this field. The University of 
Colorado at Colorado Springs offers a well established Master of 
Engineering Degree in Space Operations, and the Air Force Academy 
continually graduating students into this field. Graduates of the 
University of Colorado-Boulder, which offers the only aerospace degree 
in Northern Colorado, also support Colorado's space industry.
  At the college level internship opportunities become significant. 
Employers see cooperative education programs and internships as real-
world employment experience which lets college students become familiar 
with an organization and its work style. High-tech industries are 
seeing a trend toward expensive training costs and high employee 
turnover. By partnering with colleges and universities, high-tech 
industries will see a more highly trained workforce entering their 
industry and employees who are more committed to the organization.
  The main idea behind cooperative education and internships are that 
they provide students the opportunity to apply theory learned in the 
classroom to the workplace. High-tech industries now consider the use 
of partnering with a university's cooperative education and internship 
programs as the number one recruitment tool for long-term commitments 
of regular employment.
  For example, the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs 
recognized this as an important investment in students' futures. In 
addition to helping their own students with internships, the University 
itself provides internships to students from other universities without 
internship opportunities. The University has formed partnerships with 
community, junior, and 4-year colleges without engineering programs.
  In conclusion, this is a critical time; we must start today if we 
want to solve the high-tech employment problem. The signs are 
everywhere that high-tech is booming, but high-tech employees are not. 
We must act fast, for studies show key math and science decisions are 
made by a student at the 5th to 7th grade level. This means that there 
can be up to a ten-year lead-time for bachelor degree level technology 
workers. There are four areas that I think we should focus on in order 
to help solve the problem.
  No. 1, Clearly understand the challenge, communicate it to our 
teachers, parents and students, and consider the consequences of not 
acting on this issue immediately.
  No. 2, Better connect education systems and industry.
  No. 3, Find innovative ways to remove barriers to education in math 
and science, and continue improvement in higher education.
  No. 4, Leverage government funding through greater collaboration 
among government agencies, educational institutions and the private 
industry.
  We need to work together in order to solve this problem. Our 
universities need to increase engineering and computer sciences 
scholarships, improve distance learning, and expand their internship 
and cooperative education programs to meet the needs of the high-tech 
industry. Our government needs to upgrade training and out-source more 
work, education, and training. Our industries must increase recruiting, 
build higher retention rates, and offer on-site courses. And finally, 
our public schools must increase partnerships with outside entities, 
educate our teachers about technology, and make science and math fun 
for our students.
  The examples I have given from my home state of Colorado demonstrate 
that through increased internships, partnerships, teacher training, and 
K-12 student programs, communities can do something to meet the 
employment needs of the 21st Century.
  The United States will continue to be a global leader in the 
technology arena if these ideas are implemented tomorrow and we ensure 
that our schools are producing the best, most educated workforce in the 
world.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  Mr. WARNER addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Virginia.

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