[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 139 (Tuesday, October 16, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Page S10766]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TECH TALENT ACT OF 2001

  Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I rise to express my strong support for the 
Technology Talent Act of 2001. As an original co-sponsor, I am pleased 
to have joined my Senate colleagues, Senators Joe Lieberman, Barbara 
Mikulski, Bill Frist, and Pete Domenici in introducing an important 
piece of legislation that will help strengthen the long-term economic 
competitiveness and health of our Nation. We are here to sound the 
alarm to the public that our Nation's innovation capabilities are at 
risk of falling behind other industrial nations if we do not 
aggressively increase the number and quality of our technologically-
trained workforce.
  The number of American students receiving degrees in the natural 
sciences and engineering fields has fallen significantly. This decline 
has occurred despite the growth in population and increase in 
undergraduate enrollment. But in other countries, the proportion of 
degrees in the sciences has grown compared to the United States. As a 
result, the demand for scientists and engineers in this country is 
being filled by foreign workers. And with the demand for engineers and 
computer scientists expected to grow by more than 50 percent by 2008, 
the high-tech industry is deeply troubled that it will become 
increasingly difficult to fill this demand and remain competitive in 
the global economy.
  To respond to the shortage of technically-trained workers in this 
country, the Congress has had to raise the cap on H1-B visas for 
immigrant workers. Why was this necessary? In the past decade, growth 
in the number of Asian and European students earning degrees in the 
natural sciences and engineering has gone up on average by 4 percent 
per year. During the same time, the rate for U.S. students declined on 
average by nearly one percent each year. It was startling to learn that 
the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, OECD, ranked 
the United States 25 out of 26 industrialized nations surveyed in terms 
of the number of college and university degrees in science. The OECD 
found that South Korea led those nations surveyed and that we are 
behind countries like Finland, Japan, the Czech Republic, and Ireland!
  In my home State of Missouri, I have seen the same sort of disturbing 
trends. The University of Missouri has seen an overall decline in 
science, engineering, and math degrees as a proportion of total 
undergraduate degrees. For example, undergraduate degrees in 
engineering have declined by 16 percent over the past 5 years whereas 
non-science degrees have increased by 14 percent.
  Because of these troubling numbers, I am excited to work with my 
Senate colleagues to come up with a potential solution. I thank Senator 
Lieberman and his staff for taking the initiative in crafting this bill 
and working with me. I also thank Professor Romer of Stanford 
University for his vision and thoughts in developing this bill.
  Through the administration of the National Science Foundation, this 
legislation provides financial incentives to our colleges and 
universities to expand existing successful programs and create new, 
innovative ways that encourage our youth to enter and stay in the 
science and engineering fields. Our bill also encourages schools to 
develop programs that will attract more minorities and women. This is 
critical since there are few minorities and women employed in the high-
tech sector.
  To jumpstart this program, I am pleased to note that we have included 
$20 million in NSF's budget as part of the Senate's fiscal year 2002 
VA, HUD bill. I hope we can maintain this level in conference and later 
increase funding for this program to a level of $200 million if this 
program is successful and our subcommittee receives the necessary 
funding.
  Along with many of my Senate and House colleagues, I have been trying 
to increase support for NSF because we recognize the role NSF plays in 
stimulating our economy and supporting the biomedical work of the 
National Institutes of Health. That is why we believe in doubling NSF's 
budget and as part of this effort, increasing the Nation's 
technologically-trained workforce is a key element. Clearly, we need to 
invest in our students because they will be the booster rocket for the 
future success of our economy and allow this Nation to lead the world 
in this century.

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