[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 143 (Sunday, October 11, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2081-E2082]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            SENSE OF HOUSE REGARDING NATIONAL SCIENCE POLICY

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON-LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 8, 1998

  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak on behalf of 
this resolution, which states that the report entitled ``Unlocking Our 
Future: Toward a New National Science Policy'' shall be used by this 
Congress as a starting point for our future science policy.
  I would first like to recognize the hard work that Congressman Ehlers 
has put into this report. I would also like to let him know that I look 
forward to working with him, and the other Members of the Science 
Committee in the future, towards implementing some of the ideas set 
forth in this Report.
  However, I would also like to add that I support this resolution 
because it indicates that this report should ``serve as a framework for 
future deliberations''. It is a start to a process, one which I hope to 
work within so that others can add their views and values to the 
development of a true ``National Science Policy''. Therefore, I would 
like to note some issues, which were omitted from the report, which I 
hope will be added to our agenda on science, math, and engineering.
  The report fails to fully address the problem of under-represented 
populations in the fields of science and technology. We all know that 
there is a severe shortage of minorities, women, and people with 
disabilities in these areas, yet the report does not make any real 
acknowledgement of the situation, and as a result, it does not contain 
any ways to make it any better. I hope to change that as we move 
forward in the development of our National Science Policy.
  I believe that Congress should play a role in making sure that every 
segment of society receives the benefits of, and helps develop our 
scientific advances. Already, we have passed legislation, with bi-
partisan support, to improve the involvement of minorities and women in 
the hard sciences. Just a few weeks ago, we overwhelmingly passed the 
Advancement of Women in Science, Engineering, and Technology Act, which 
will ensure that women are encouraged to enter the fields of science 
and technology. I have also gotten bipartisan support in the Science 
Committee, where I was able to amend several bills to ensure that 
minority students are able to take advantage of federal grant programs 
made available through the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and 
NASA. I am proud of that work, not only because of what it does for 
under-represented groups in science, but also because my friends on the 
other side of the aisle saw the importance of the issue, and were 
willing to make the decision that we need to get all Americans involved 
in science. Therefore, I would propose that any official ``National 
Science Policy'' include this important issue so that we can continue 
to work to improve this situation throughout the next Congress.
  I also believe that we need to work to include the social and 
behavioral sciences in our science policy, which were given little or 
no attention in this report. Although I see the importance in making 
sure that we progress in the area of basic research and the ``hard 
sciences'', we should not focus on those two disciplines exclusively. 
The social sciences should continue to be developed so that we can 
better grapple with problems that affect our entire nation, like 
improving our education system, and working towards better public 
health. Furthermore, the behavioral scientists have a unique 
understanding of the human mind that cannot be captured by biologists 
or medical doctors.
  For the report to omit these important disciplines is a disservice to 
those respective scientific communities, and it is only worsened by the 
fact that the Report advocates that the hard sciences be used actively 
in the legislative process. While I applaud the application of the hard 
sciences to our activities, I also see the social and behavioral 
sciences playing an important role here in Congress, and will work 
towards ensuring it. This is especially true in light of the fact that 
the courts have actively rebuked the use of social science materials in 
cases like McClesky v. Kemp (1987). Although I do not agree with the 
outcome of that case, I feel that it properly illustrates the fact that 
the social sciences, and the use of statistics, must be used to remedy 
the problems that afflict large segments of society--like the 
undercount in the Census. It is more than ironic that through current 
times, the most compelling use of a social science study by the 
judiciary created perhaps the most monumental court decision of our 
time, Brown v. Board of Education. For those reasons, I hope that we 
can better integrate all of the sciences in our National Science 
Policy.
  I would also like to add that I hope our National Science Policy will 
include further efforts

[[Page E2082]]

to improve our K-12 institutions. Because K-12 is crucial in the 
development of science and math-savvy college students and workers, I 
believe we must concentrate a good portion of our resources on turning 
out good engineers, mathematicians, and scientists. We all know how 
important that is for our economy, the technology industry is the 
fastest growing segment of our society, and just a few weeks ago, we 
had to vote on whether or not to expand the number of visas available 
to highly-skilled workers from outside the United States! We could 
easily solve that problem by ensuring that all students graduating from 
high school have more than rudimentary skills in the areas of math and 
science and are encouraged to follow up on that education in a college 
or university.
  Having highlighted these issues and with the understanding that I 
would like them included in our future discussions, I would like to 
endorse the use of this Report as a starting point for bringing 
science, math, and engineering to the forefront of our national agenda.

                          ____________________