[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 125 (Friday, September 29, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1954]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     MINORITY SERVING INSTITUTION DIGITAL AND WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY 
                        OPPORTUNITY ACT OF 2005

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 29, 2006

  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in 
support of the Minority Serving Institution Digital and Wireless 
Technology Opportunity Act.
  For years, reports have indicated that minority-serving institutions 
such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities have produced the 
majority of African American scientists and engineers.
  These colleges and universities have created a strong pipeline of 
technical excellence among minority populations.
  Young African American and Hispanic students, rising through the 
ranks and full of promise, see role models in the professors and 
scientists with whom they interact at these institutions.
  The absence of consistent role models is a major contributing factor 
of why underrepresented minorities have faced challenges in increasing 
their numbers in our high-tech domestic workforce.
  The Minority Serving Institution Digital and Wireless Technology 
Opportunity Act would establish a program at the National Science 
Foundation to award grants to such institutions to provide educational 
instruction in digital and wireless network technologies.
  If enacted, the bill would also help minority-serving institutions 
strengthen their digital and wireless infrastructure and would also 
give them an opportunity to provide input for how grant proposals would 
be reviewed and evaluated.
  One other nice point about the bill is that it encourages partnership 
formation between the institutions and third parties by requiring a 
matching recipient contribution of 25 percent of the federal assistance 
amount.
  Mr. Speaker, I believe that minority serving education institutions 
are extremely valuable in supporting our domestic minority workforce.
  Historically Black Colleges and Universities; Hispanic-, Alaska 
Native-, and Native Hawaiian-serving institutions; tribally controlled 
colleges and universities; and others tend to have a substantial high-
need student population and deserve our support.
  Mr. Speaker, I support this bill and urge my colleagues to vote for 
its passage.

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