[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 138 (Monday, October 15, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10703-S10707]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
By Mr. LIEBERMAN (for himself, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. Bond, Mr. Frist,
and Mr. Domenici):
S. 1549. A bill to provide for increasing the technically trained
workforce in the United States; to the Committee on Health, Education,
Labor, and Pensions.
Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I am proud to join Senators Mikulski,
Bond, Frist, and Domenici in introducing an innovative response to one
of the greatest challenges to the growth of the Innovation Economy,
America's widening talent gap.
Our technological prowess is unequaled in the world today, which is
why, despite our recent slowdown and the aftershocks of the September
11 attacks, we still have the strongest, most vibrant economy on the
planet, and we obviously have no deficit of ingenuity and
inventiveness.
But our long-term competitive standing and economic security could
well be at risk if we do not address a troubling trendline in our
workforce, the mismatch between the demand and supply of workers with
science and engineering training.
The fact is, the number of jobs requiring significant technical
skills is projected to grow by more than 50 percent in the United
States over the next ten years. But outside of the life sciences, the
number of degrees awarded in science and engineering has been flat or
declining.
This has helped fuel a well-chronicled shortage of qualified New
Economy workers. We have tried to temporarily plug this human capital
hole with a stopgap of foreign workers. But there is a broad consensus
among high-tech leaders and policymakers that it would be a serious
mistake to prolong this dependence and essentially put our GDP at the
mercy of H1B's.
That may sound like a bit of an overstatement to some. But the
reality is that technological innovation is now widely understood to be
the major driver of economic growth, not to mention a critical factor
in our military superiority. And it is widely understood that we cannot
expand our economy in the future if we don't take steps now to expand
our domestic pool of brainpower, the next generation of people who will
incubate and implement the next generation of ideas.
Now, most answers to serious economic challenges flow from the
private sector, which is where growth ultimately occurs. But there are
things that the federal government can do to help, particularly when it
comes to educating and training our workforce. We can provide
leadership, focus, and not least of all resources, and that is the
purpose of the bill we are introducing today.
Our plan aims to fix a critical link in this ``tech talent'' gap,
undergraduate education in science, math, engineering, and technology.
It would create a new competitive grant program within the National
Science Foundation that would encourage institutions of higher
learning, from universities to community colleges, to increase the
number of graduates in these disciplines.
This is not another scholarship program, but a targeted, results-
driven initiative that goes straight to the gatekeepers. We're not
asking them to change their admissions policies, but, in effect, to
design new ``e-missions'' policies. Come up with effective ideas, and
we will provide the dollars to make them work.
For example, institutions could propose to add or strengthen the
interdisciplinary components of undergraduate science education. Or
they could establish targeted support programs for women and
minorities, who are 54 percent of our total workforce, but only 22
percent of scientists and engineers, to increase enrollment in these
fields. Or they could partner with local technology companies to
provide summer industry internships for ongoing research experience.
The pilot program is authorized at $25 million for Fiscal Year 2002,
but our bipartisan coalition hopes the level will rise over the next
several years to approximately $200 million annually, based upon pilot
program results. With that kind of seed money, we're optimistic
thousands of promising new scientists and engineers will soon bloom.
We realize that solving the undergraduate problem is not going to
singlehandedly close our talent gap. We must also dramatically reform
our K-12 public education system, through innovative initiatives such
as Congressman Boehlert's math and science partnerships bill, and
strengthen our national investment in R&D. But it is a vitally
important piece of the productivity puzzle.
For evidence of that, just look at the collection of letters of
support we have received from industry, academia, and professional
organizations, including letters from TechNet, a national network of
CEOs and senior executives from the leading technology and
biotechnology companies; the National Alliance of Business; and STANCO
25 Professor of Economics at Stanford University, Paul Romer, a leading
[[Page S10704]]
growth economist, whose pioneering research underscores the long-term
talent crisis facing our Nation, and who helped us think through this
bill.
These industry, academic, and educational leaders recognize as do we,
that in our knowledge-based economy, we must have people who know what
they're doing, and that is why they have made this problem and our
legislation a top priority. We are grateful for their knowledge and
their support, and we look forward to working with them to better
harvest the enormous potential of America's workforce.
I ask unanimous consent that letters of support for the Tech Talent
bill, from the following organizations and individuals, be printed in
the Record: TechNet, Professor Paul Romer, National Alliance of
Business, Semiconductor Industry Association, American Astronomical
Society, K-12 Science, Mathematics, Engineering & Technology Coalition,
General Electric, American Association of State Colleges and
Universities, and the American Society for Engineering Education.
There being no objection, the additional material was ordered to be
printed in the Record, as follows:
TechNet,
Palo Alto, CA, October 8, 2001.
Hon. Joseph Lieberman,
Hon. Bill Frist,
Hon. Barbara Mikulski,
Hon. Christopher S. ``Kit'' Bond,
Hon. Pete Domenici,
Hon. Sherwood Boehlert,
Hon. John B. Larson.
Dear Senators Lieberman, Frist, Mikulski, Bond, and
Domenici, and Representatives Boehlert, and Larson: On behalf
of TechNet's 250 technology industry executives, we are
writing to lend our strong endorsement and support for your
legislation to increase the technically trained workforce in
the United States: the Tech Talent Bill. TechNet considers
the lack of a highly skilled American workforce a serious
threat to our nation's future economic and technology growth.
Recent economic studies have shown that technological
progress accounts for more then half of the U.S. economic
growth in the post-war period. Correspondingly, a workforce
highly trained in science, mathematics, engineering and
technology (SMET) is fundamental to our nation's ability to
remain competitive. Yet despite predictions that the number
of jobs requiring technical skills will grow by 51% over the
next decade, from the late 80's to the late 90's the number
of earned bachelor's degrees has decreased by 18% in
engineering and by 36% in math and computer science.
We commend you for taking the lead with a bold and
innovative approach to reverse this perilous trend. The Tech
Talent bill would authorize funding for the National Science
Foundation (NSF) to distribute grants to colleges and
universities that agree to specific increases in the number
of students who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents
obtaining degrees in science, math, engineering and
technology. The NSF would solicit and competitively award
grants, based on a peer-review evaluation, to proposals from
colleges and universities with promising and innovative
programs to increase the number of graduates in the specified
disciplines.
A well-prepared workforce coupled with a strong emphasis on
R&D is the only way to ensure a healthier, economically
solid, and technologically advanced future for America. We
appreciate your steadfast support of policies toward this
end, and we urge you to press forward with this legislation
in both chambers. Please let us know how we can best support
a swift passage of the Tech Talent bill. Thank you for
considering our views on this important issue.
Best regards,
Jim Barksdale, Partner, The Barksdale Group.
John Doerr, Partner, Kleiner, Perkins, Claufield, & Byers.
Rick White, President & CEO, TechNet.
Carol Bartz, CEO & Chairman of the Board, Autodesk, Inc.
Craig Barrett, CEO, Intel Corporation.
Eric Benhamou, Chairman, 3Com.
Hale Boggs, Partner, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP.
Bob Brisco, CEO, CARSDIRECT.COM.
Sheryle Bolton, Chairman & CEO, Scientific Learning
Corporation.
Richard M. Burnes, Jr., Partner, Charles River Ventures.
Daniel H. Case III, Chairman & CEO, JP Morgan H & Q.
Bruce Claflin, President & CEO, 3Com.
Ron Conway, Founder and General Partner, Angel Investors,
LLP.
Joe Cullinane, CEO Telum Group, Inc.
Dean DeBiase, Chairman Autoweb.
Aart de Geus, CEO and Chairman, Synopsys.
Paul Deninger, Chairman & CEO, Broadview International LLC.
Gary Dickerson, Chief Operating Officer, KLA-Tencor
Corporation.
William H. Draper III, General Partner, Draper Richards
L.P.
Thomas J. Engibous, Chairman, President & CEO, Texas
Instruments.
Carl Feldbaum, President, Biotechnology Industry
Organization.
Boris Feldman, Partner, Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati.
Ken Goldman, CFO, Siebel Systems.
Christopher Greene, President & CEO, Greene Engineers.
Michael D. Goldberg, Managing Director, JasperCapital.
Nancy Heinen, Senior VP, General Counsel, Apple.
Jeffrey O. Henley, Executive VP & CFO, Oracle Corporation.
Bob Herbold, Executive Vice President & COO, Microsoft
Corporation.
Casey Hoffman, CEO & Founder, Supportkids.com.
Guy Hoffman, Venture Partner, TL Ventures.
Kingdon R. Hughes, President, Rush Network.
Scott Jones, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Escient.
Nicholas Konidaris, CEO, Advantest America, Inc.
David Lane, Partner, Diamondhead Venture Management LLC.
Paul Lippe, CEO, SKOLAR.
Arthur D. Levinson, PhD, Chairman & CEO, Genetech.
Ken Levy, Chairman, KLA-Tencor Corporation.
Lori P. Mirek, President & CEO, Currenex--Global Financial
Exchange.
Henry Samueli, PhD, Co-Chairman & CTO, Broadcom
Corporation.
Douglas G. Scrivner, General Counsel, Accenture.
Stratton Sclavos, President & CEO, VeriSign Inc.
Gary Shapiro, President & CEO, Consumer Electronics
Association.
Rohit Shukla, President & CEO, LARTA.
Gregory W. Slayton, President and CEO, ClickAction.
Ted Smith, Chairman, FileNET.
Robert W. Sterns, Principal, Sternhill Partners.
George Sundheim III, President, Doty, Sundheim & Gilmore.
John Young, Retired President & CEO, Hewlett Packard.
____
Stanford University,
Graduate School of Business,
Stanford, CA, October 10, 2001.
Senator Christopher Bond,
Senator Pete Domenici,
Senator William Frist,
Senator Joseph Lieberman,
Senator Barbara Mikulski,
U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
Dear Senators Bond, Domenici, Frist, Lieberman, and
Mikulski: Your Tech Talent bill will reinvigorate one of the
most successful policies in the history of our nation--
government support for broad undergraduate training in
science and engineering. Since the end of the 19th century,
people trained in these areas have turned scientific
opportunity into technological progress. With their help, we
harnessed the twin engines of the market and technology.
Together, these engines powered the United States into our
current position of unchallenged worldwide political and
economic leadership.
Unfortunately, success breeds complacency. In recent
decades, our achievements in undergraduate science education
have fallen behind those in many other countries.
In the domain of the market, our government fostered growth
by doing less. It stood aside and gave people the freedom to
start new ventures, introduce new products, and improve on
old ways of doing things. By contrast, in the domain of
technology, our government fostered growth by doing more, but
in a way that supported market competition. The Morrill Acts
of 1862 and 1890 created a new type of university, one
committed not to an elite study of art or science for its own
sake. Instead, these new institutions emphasized the
practical application of knowledge. They offered instruction
in the ``agricultural and mechanic arts'' and the various
branches of science, with ``special reference to their
application in the industries of life.'' The land grant
universities created and supported by these acts helped many
more farmers and miners, tinkerers and inventors,
entrepreneurs and managers, engineers and researchers compete
in the market by developing new technologies or applying
technologies developed by others.
Since World War II, the federal government has wisely
increased its support for basic research by current
university professors and graduate training of future
professors. Unfortunately, this support seems to have come at
the expense of our early commitment to undergraduate
education in science and engineering. At the beginning of the
20th century, this commitment put us far ahead of the rest of
the world. At the beginning of the 21st century, we lag
behind many other countries according to such basic measures
as the fraction of all 24-year-olds who receive an
undergraduate degree in engineering or the natural sciences.
Your bill can begin our return to worldwide leadership in
undergraduate science and engineering education. It will
reward colleges and universities that devote more effort to
teaching, that develop innovative instructional materials,
that pull students into science instead of ``weeding them
out.''
If we can increase the number of undergraduates who receive
science and engineering degrees our companies will have more
highly skilled workers. Our schools will have more math and
science teachers. Our Ph.D.
[[Page S10705]]
programs will have more qualified applicants. Our economy
will grow faster and our nation will be stronger.
Sincerely yours,
Paul M. Romer.
____
October 5, 2001.
Hon. Joseph I. Lieberman,
U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
Dear Senator Lieberman: We commend you for your leadership
in sponsoring the Technology Talent bill. This bill focuses
attention on an important workforce issue for business and
for America's growing knowledge-based economy--the need to
increase the number of U.S. students graduating with degrees
in mathematics, science, engineering, and technology from the
nation's universities and community colleges.
American businesses face a constant challenge to find
sufficient numbers of professionals with proficiency in these
key disciplines. The number of students graduating with
degrees in these fields has both failed to keep pace with an
ever-increasing demand, and actually declined. Since 1990,
for example the number of bachelor degrees in electrical
engineering awarded at U.S. universities has declined 37
percent. We must address this need if the United States is to
maintain its economic and technological leadership.
The demonstration grant program established by the Tech
Talent bill will provide new incentives for universities,
colleges, and community colleges to increase the number of
graduates with bachelor and associate degrees in science,
mathematics, engineering and technology. The bill also will
encourage mentoring, bridge programs from secondary to
postsecondary education, and creative approaches for
traditionally underrepresented groups to earn degrees in
these disciplines.
We look forward to working with you and your colleagues to
secure enactment of this legislation.
Sincerely,
3M Company; AeA.; AT&T.; Business-Higher Education Forum;
Compaq Computer Corporation; IBM Corporation;
Information Technology Association of America; Intel
Corporation; Minority Business RoundTable; Motorola;
National Alliance of Business; National Venture Capital
Association; Northern Virginia Technology Council;
SchoolTone Alliance; Semiconductor Industry
Association; Software and Information Industry
Association; TechNet; Texas Instruments; Verizon; and
Williams.
____
SIA,
San Jose, CA, October 3, 2001.
Re Tech Talent Act.
Hon. Joseph Lieberman,
U.S. Senate, Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC.
Dear Senator Lieberman: The Semiconductor Industry
Association applauds your introduction of the Technology
Talent Act as an important action to expand the technically
trained workforce in the United States.
Over the next five to fifteen years, the semiconductor
manufacturing process that the industry has used for the past
thirty years will have reached its physical limits. It will
take significant investments to develop the human resources
necessary to develop replacement processes and electronic
device structures. Absent these investments, the continued
productivity gains that our economy has enjoyed from
information technology advances will be lost.
The demonstration program established by the Tech Talent
bill will provide incentive for universities, colleges and
community colleges to increase the number of graduates with
bachelors and associates' degrees in science, mathematics,
engineering and technology. We are pleased that the bill
encourages mentoring programs, bridge programs and other
innovative approaches to helping increase the number of U.S.
students graduating with degrees in these disciplines. That
should not only help to increase the supply by retaining more
of the students who are already enrolled, but also help
attract more students from traditionally under-represented
groups to pursue careers in our industry and other high tech
sectors.
We look forward to working with you and your colleagues to
help ensure the legislation's swift and favorable
consideration. Thank you again for your leadership on this
issue.
Sincerely,
George Scalise,
President.
____
AAS,
Pasadena, CA, September 10, 2001.
Re Tech Talent Bill.
Hon. Joseph Lieberman,
Washington, DC.
Dear Senator Lieberman: I am writing to thank you and your
colleagues for introducing the ``Tech Talent Bill''. I will
work to support this legislation as it moves through
Congress.
As you know, the decline in our technical workforce is
negatively affecting our national economy and worldwide
competitiveness. The American Institute of Physics (AIP) has
tracked the number of students earning doctorates from U.S.
institutions in the physical sciences since 1962. Today,
roughly 1,350 doctorates are awarded each year. In 1970, this
number was nearly 1,600. Although this statistic does
fluctuate from year to year, it has steadily declined over
the last several years, dropping 11% between 1994 and 1998.
Additionally, the fraction of foreign students earning
doctorates has increased dramatically. According to AIP
statistics, 46% of physics doctorates are foreign nationals.
The Administrator of NASA, Dan Goldin, highlighted this
problem in a recent article in the Atlantic magazine
(September 2001). In this article, he points out that due to
the small number of qualified engineers and physical
scientists, design, construction and operation of space
probes is becoming difficult. Although not for certain, he
suggests that this shortage may have played a role in the
recent failures of the Mars Polar Lander and Mars Climate
Orbiter. According to Mr. Goldin, nearly as many students
earn undergraduate degrees in parks, recreation and leisure
as earn degrees in electrical engineering. This is a shocking
fact for a Nation built on technology and science.
By motivating universities to increase the number of
students earning physical science degrees, this legislation
will have a direct impact on this problem. I strongly support
the ``Tech Talent Bill'' and hope to work with you to ensure
its passage in this Congressional term.
Sincerely,
Anneila Sargent,
President.
____
K-12 Science, Mathematics, Engineering & Technology
Education Coalition,
October 15, 2001.
Hon. Joseph Lieberman,
U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
Dear Senator Lieberman: The K-12 Science, Mathematics,
Engineering, and Technology Education Coalition commends you
and Senators Frist, Mikulski, and Bond for introducing the
``Tech Talent'' bill, designed to increase the United States'
technically trained workforce. It is imperative to develop a
highly skilled workforce to maintain our national security
and foster future economic growth. We believe that the
journey begins before college.
We are pleased that your legislation encourages
universities to partner with community colleges, industry
organizations, professional societies and local schools to
pave the way for students of all ages and backgrounds to
further their interests in science, mathematics, engineering
and technology (SMET) coursework and career paths.
In October of this year, the deans of engineering and the
deans of education from 50 universities met in concert to
develop strategic collaborations to enhance K-12 teacher
preparation in SMET and to invigorate engineering education.
Collaborations of this type can and should be replicated by
more universities and across all science, mathematics,
engineering, and technological disciplines.
This bill will assist in the development and implementation
of innovative approaches to increasing enrollments and
graduates in key SMET degrees, which is critical to our
economy, our national security, and the future job prospects
of our children. Providing incentives and rewards to
educational institutions for increasing SMET enrollments and
graduates is an excellent approach to jumpstart that process.
We applaud your dedication and foresight in protecting and
enhancing America's future workforce.
If we can be of further assistance, please contact Patti
Burgio at 202.785.7385.
____
GE Corporate Research & Development, The General Electric
Company,
October 12, 2001.
Hon. Joseph Lieberman,
U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
Dear Senator Lieberman: The General Electric Company highly
commends you, along with Senators Bond, Mikulski, Frist, and
Domenici and Representatives Boehlert and Larson, for
introducing the ``Tech Talent'' bill. We fully endorse and
support the revival of a highly technical workforce in the
United States.
While our company embraces technical expertise from around
the globe, we believe it is vital to our nation's long-term
economic strength to grow and develop our domestic talent as
well. This legislation will create that strength without
discriminating against global technical talent.
We applaud your approach to creating a grant program that
itself inspires colleges and universities to take a creative
and innovative approach to broadening science, mathematics,
engineering and technology enrollment. We believe that this
approach will not result in a one-time spike in enrollment,
instead it enables a fundamental change in philosophy for a
long-term increase in technical education.
There is no better time for this legislation. Our nation's
economy is heavily dependent on a highly skilled workforce,
with more than 50 percent of our economic growth stemming
from technological progress. We look forward to assisting you
in any way possible with this legislation. Thank you for your
continued support of technology and innovation initiatives in
America.
Sincerely,
Scott C. Donnelly,
Senior Vice President.
[[Page S10706]]
____
American Association of
State Colleges and Universities,
Washington, DC, October 12, 2001.
Hon. Joseph Lieberman,
U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
Dear Senator Lieberman: On behalf of the American
Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) I am
writing to express our strong support for the, ``Technology
Talent Act of 2001.'' AASCU is comprised of more than 430
public colleges, universities and systems of public higher
education located throughout the United States and its
territories. Our Connecticut members include: Central
Connecticut State University, Eastern Connecticut State
University, Southern Connecticut State University, Western
Connecticut State University and the Connecticut State
University System.
AASCU truly appreciates your leadership in recognizing the
need to increase the nation's technically trained workforce,
as well as your commitment to address this need by
introducing legislation that will, if adequately funded, go a
long way towards achieving this goal. AASCU strongly supports
the legislation's requirement that at least one principal
investigator be in a position of administrative leadership at
the institution of higher education. This requirement will
ensure that the commitment for increasing the number of
bachelor's degrees will be institution wide. Additionally, we
believe the legislation's priority to award grants to
institutions that draw on previous and existing efforts in
improving undergraduate learning and teaching is right on
target.
Again, thank you for your leadership on this issue. We look
forward to working with you as the ``Technology Talent Act of
2001'' progresses through the legislative process.
Sincerely,
Edward M. Elmendorf,
Vice President for Government
Relations and Policy Analysis.
____
American Society for
Engineering Education,
Washington, DC, October 12, 2001.
Hon. Joseph Lieberman,
U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
Dear Senator Lieberman: On behalf of the members of the
Engineering Deans Council (EDC) of the American Society for
Engineering Education (ASEE), we are writing to thank you for
introducing the Tech Talent bill, which is intended to
increase the technically trained workforce of our nation. Now
more than ever it is important for Americans to focus on
strengthening and increasing the science and technology
workforce of the United States.
Engineering schools have a major role to play in efforts to
expand the nation's technical workforce. We are very
interested in examining the provisions of the competitive
grant program to be established at the National Science
Foundation. Those that are intended to increase the number of
U.S. citizens or permanent residents obtaining degrees in
science, mathematics, engineering or technology (SMET) can be
helpful to all of us in engineering education. The incentives
to degree-granting institutions to encourage creative ways of
recruiting students who may not earlier have felt they could
succeed in these fields will insure innovative, aggressive
program proposal submissions. We are glad to see that strong
emphasis will be placed on an evaluation of methods employed
in the grant activities.
This legislation will provide an opportunity to build on
the activities that many of our colleges have underway,
including mentoring high school students and engaging them in
other activities designed to interest them in enrolling in
SMET programs. Earlier this year we held the first
Engineering Deans Council panel discussion on opportunities
for collaboration between engineering and education schools.
At the beginning of October pairs of deans of engineering and
deans of education met for the ``Deans Summit'' in Baltimore.
The purpose of this conference was to stimulate these deans
to develop collaborations, which would result in programs to
improve the quality of preparation of students for SMET
careers. As participants in the Deans Summit, we can testify
that many innovative programs were developed by pairs of
deans from the institutions represented. We think this
legislation will be very helpful to these collaborations.
Many of the institutions will be very eager to develop
proposals in response to its provisions. The incentives
provided in this bill will certainly attract attention, and
we think will achieve the purpose of increasing enrollments
as well as improve the quality of preparation.
The Engineering Deans Council of the American Society for
Engineering Education (ASEE) is the leadership organization
of the more than 300 deans of engineering in the United
States. Founded in 1893, ASEE is a nonprofit association
dedicated to the improvement of engineering and engineering
technology education.
We greatly appreciate your strong and continuing interest
in and support for the development of our nation's scientific
and technical workforce. If we can be of further assistance,
please do not hesitate to get in touch with us.
Sincerely,
Carl E. Locke, Jr.,
Dean of Engineering, University of Kansas-Lawrence, Chair,
Engineering Deans Council.
David N. Wormley,
Dean of Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, Vice
Chair, Engineering Deans Council.
Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I am proud to join Senators Lieberman,
Mikulski, Bond and Domenici in introducing the Tech Talent bill. This
legislation will build on and compliment legislation I introduced
earlier this year, the Math and Science Partnership Act.
Today, we are talking about college math and science majors and their
role in our economic and scientific future. But, precollege science and
math instruction has an important relationship to the future supply of
U.S. scientific and technological personnel as well. For example,
students who take rigorous mathematics and science courses in high
school are much more likely to go on to college than those who do not.
Data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study reveal that 83
percent of students who took algebra I and geometry, and nearly 89
percent of students who took chemistry, went on to college, compared to
only 36 percent of students who did not take algebra and geometry and
43 percent of students who did not take chemistry. Yet 31 percent of
our college bound high school seniors did not take four years or more
of mathematics, and 51 percent of college bound high school seniors did
not take four years or more of science.
There is another link between precollege and college math and science
instruction: before you can major in science or math in college, you
must have a strong understanding of the basics. Yet, the most recent
NAEP science assessments showed that only approximately one-third of
our 4th, 8th and 12th grade students were performing at the basic
level. And only 3 percent of the students at all three grade levels
reached the advanced level of scientific proficiency.
The Math and Science Partnership program, which is now part of the
education reform bill, authorizes $900 million in 2002 to enhance K-12
math and science education. It will help more of our children learn the
basics of math and science and encourage more of them to go to college.
The Tech Talent Bill will make sure that once they get to college,
they are encouraged to complete the loop: major in science, engineering
or computer science so that we can fill the high tech jobs that are
fundamental to our nation's future prosperity and to our ability to
remain competitive in an increasingly global marketplace.
The Tech Talent Bill rewards colleges and universities that increase
the number of math and science majors that graduate. And the bill lets
the universities figure out the best way to do so. It will not stifle
creativity. Our economy needs a workforce highly trained in science,
mathematics, engineering and technology, and that is why I believe this
bill is very important, and should be a top priority.
I am proud to support this bill, and I commend Senator Lieberman for
his leadership on this issue.
Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, innovation drives a significant part of
our domestic economy; it's absolutely vital in maintaining our standard
of living. Estimates are that at least half of our economic growth in
the post-WWII period was driven by advanced technologies.
Innovation is especially critical today at a time when our economy
has shown significant weaknesses. We need to continue to look toward
our ability to innovate, to bring new products and processes to the
market place, to help spur recovery.
Innovation depends on many factors, ranging from the research done in
our superb universities and laboratories to the flow of capital
investments into entrepreneurial start-up companies. One of the very
key factors is the existence of a well qualified workforce, ready to
support high technology industries. Increasingly, preparation of that
workforce is at risk in the United States, this should be cause for
great concern.
That's why I welcome this opportunity to join with Senators
Lieberman, Bond, Mikulski, and Frist, as well as with Congressmen
Boehlert and Larson, to provide my support as an original co-sponsor of
the
[[Page S10707]]
Tech Talent Bill. This bill can help to reverse disturbing trends in
the technical credentials of our future workforce.
Studies show that the number of jobs requiring technical training
will increase by 51 percent over the next decade. Six million new
technical openings are projected to be needed by 2008. But the trend is
exactly the opposite, our number of bachelor's degrees has dropped 21
percent in engineering and 32 percent in math and computer science over
the last decade.
In the last few years, we've filled many technical positions with
foreign workers, and we've heard repeated cries from our high tech
industries about their need for larger visa programs to allow these
workers to enter the country. In addition, increasing numbers of our
undergraduate and graduate students are citizens of another country.
Frequently, both foreign students who have completed technical
studies in the United States and foreign technical workers admitted
under special visas return to their native lands. That fuels a
continuing outflow of technical expertise from our country.
That's good for other countries, who are striving to build up their
technical capabilities, but it sure isn't good for the United States.
The trend is ominous. In 1985, we led most countries in the number of
research personnel as a percent of our workforce. In 1998, we were well
behind countries like Japan.
This trend is even worse if we look at young technical workers,
because much of our strength is from older workers from past years when
technical education was more popular here. If we look at the fraction
of 24 year-old workers with technical training, the U.S. lags behind
many countries including Japan, Korea, Germany, Ireland, Canada, France
and the United Kingdom.
This problem is even more evident if we look at the fraction of
bachelor-level degrees awarded in science and engineering. In the
United States, the figure is about one-third. But in China, our one-
third is replaced by their 72 percent, and Japan, Russia and Brazil
exceed 60 percent. In all of Asia, 47 percent of all degrees are in
science and engineering. It's even worse if we focus on engineering,
where 5 percent of our bachelor's degrees are awarded. In China, that
figure is 46 percent. And that figure is 30 or more percent in
countries like Germany, Russia, Singapore, and Finland, and over 20
percent in many countries including Japan, France and Sweden.
Traditionally, the United States has led the world in patents. But if
we look at the growth in patenting in the U.S. and elsewhere, the trend
is serious. Countries like Japan have higher growth rates in patenting
then we do.
I already noted the importance of innovation in driving our economic
growth. We don't compete well in the international marketplace on
manufacture of low-tech goods. In fact, where a product has been on the
market for awhile, other countries tend to capture the manufacturing
market. That's why it's so critical that we maintain a strong flow of
innovative products it's in the newest, highest technology, products
that we are most competitive.
We can't afford to maintain some of the current trends. We were
graduating about 18,000 students a year with bachelor's degrees in the
physical sciences in the 1970s, today that figure is around 15,000. As
another bad example, our graduates in mathematics have fallen to about
half the 25,000 graduates per year in the 1970s.
We need to reverse these trends. We need to excite more students to
pursue technical careers. We need to do far better at showing students
the opportunities that can open for them if they pursue technical paths
in their education.
This bill will help in this quest. By providing grants to schools and
community colleges to increase their production of technical workers,
we are providing direct motivation to the schools which have a
significant hand in guiding students into various fields. These grants
will serve to challenge schools to find better, more convincing,
approaches to encourage student behavior.
It was particularly important to me that this bill offer these
incentives at the community college level. Students are increasingly
finding that these institutions offer the best match to their
educational needs. It will be at the community college level that we
can excite many new students who might have chosen other specialities.
Reversing the trends I've described won't happen overnight, it will
take many years. But the future benefits to our your people and to our
nation are immense. I'm pleased to join the co-sponsors of this
important bill in seeking to address this very real issue.
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