[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 166 (Tuesday, December 20, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S14073]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              SMART GRANTS

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, Thomas Friedman, in his book ``The World Is 
Flat,'' concludes that jobs in this country--and he says this with a 
backdrop of global competitiveness--ultimately depend on education of 
our young people. More specifically, jobs of the future are going to 
depend on a prepared workforce of youth well educated in math, science, 
engineering, the sorts of fields that prepare people for the jobs of 
the future. He very nicely said in his book--and I wholeheartedly 
agree--that those jobs are going to require that preparation.
  If we prepare our youth in math, science, engineering, we will 
prepare them for jobs for the future which will improve our global 
competitiveness. That means this competition will be addressed between 
China and India for jobs, for people who are trained or study in 
Virginia, in truth, will be competing with students in China and India.
  In the legislation we are considering over the next 2 days, Congress 
is very specifically addressing this link between global 
competitiveness, jobs of the future, and education in this country--
specifically math, science, and engineering education.
  I will spend a couple of minutes on a new student aid program I 
created called the SMART grant. SMART grants very simply will provide 
$4,000 per year to eligible low-income students who are majoring in 
math, in science, in engineering, in technology, in foreign languages, 
that are critical to our national security, during the third and fourth 
years of their higher education, those years of college. That is $4,000 
a year to eligible low-income students.
  That means a low-income college student will obtain up to $8,000 to 
pay for the cost of college if he or she chooses to major in one of 
those fields, those fields that are so necessary to preparing for jobs 
for the future and thus our global competitiveness. SMART grants mean 
low-income students save an average of 52 percent on the cost of 
college in this legislation we will pass over the next 48 hours.
  These funds will encourage more students to major in these time-
intensive studies. These funds will help America produce the workforce 
it needs to be able to compete in that global economy.
  The bill also provides academic competitiveness grants to first and 
second-year college students; $750 will go to first-year students who 
complete a rigorous high school curriculum, and $1,300 to second-year 
students who complete a rigorous high school curriculum and maintain a 
3.0 grade average in college. These are eligible low-income students. 
President Bush and Representative Boehner in the House deserve praise 
and credit for creating these grants.
  These SMART grants and these academic competitiveness grants are 
authorized at $3.7 billion over 5 years. They are paid for with program 
savings included in the budget deficit reduction bill we are currently 
debating in Congress.
  Right now, America must be more competitive. We are targeting 
precious resources in a responsible way to meet that challenge. Indeed, 
these grants will sustain America's global legacy as a land of 
innovation, imagination, and initiative.
  I yield the floor.

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