[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 152 (Tuesday, October 20, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H11472-H11474]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       SUPPORTING THE GOALS AND IDEALS OF NATIONAL CHEMISTRY WEEK

  Mr. GORDON of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
agree to the resolution (H. Res. 793) supporting the goals and ideals 
of National Chemistry Week.
  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
  The text of the resolution is as follows:

                              H. Res. 793

       Whereas chemistry is a vitally important field of science 
     and technology that has transformed the world and improved 
     the quality of life around the globe;
       Whereas the chemical sciences have created an 
     infrastructure that delivers the foods, fuels, medicines, and 
     materials that are the hallmarks of modern life;
       Whereas the contributions of chemical scientists and 
     engineers are central to technological progress and to the 
     health of many industries, including the chemical, 
     pharmaceutical, electronics, agricultural, automotive, and 
     aerospace industries, and these contributions boost economic 
     growth, create new jobs, and improve health and standards of 
     living;
       Whereas, in order to foster the innovation that will ensure 
     the Nation's global competitiveness, schools must cultivate 
     the finest scientists, engineers, and technicians from every 
     background and neighborhood, with a particular focus on 
     increasing access to science, technology, engineering, and 
     math education for Latinos, African-Americans, women, and 
     other underrepresented students in these fields;
       Whereas National Chemistry Week was established in 1987 by 
     the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific 
     society, to enhance public appreciation of the chemical 
     sciences and to educate the public, particularly school-age 
     children, about the important role of chemistry in everyday 
     life;
       Whereas 2009 marks the 140th anniversary of Dmitri 
     Mendeleev's creation of the Periodic Table of the Elements;
       Whereas the theme of National Chemistry Week in 2009, 
     ``Chemistry--It's Elemental'', was chosen to raise public 
     awareness about the importance of chemistry and the chemical 
     sciences by emphasizing that the elements, forming the basis 
     of the universe, play an integral role in daily life;
       Whereas many common elements, such as copper in electrical 
     wires, neon in lights, sodium in table salt, and aluminum in 
     soda cans, are tangibly present in everyday life;
       Whereas more than 10,000 volunteers from industry, 
     government, and academia will observe National Chemistry Week 
     during the week of October 18, 2009, by conducting hands-on 
     science activities with millions of children in local 
     schools, libraries, and museums; and
       Whereas National Chemistry Week volunteers will help 
     provide resources to science educators across the country, 
     promote community events for recycling common elemental items 
     such as aluminum cans, encourage students to explore creative 
     representations of the elements in the Periodic Table, and 
     generally act as ``chemistry ambassadors'' who emphasize the 
     importance and contributions of chemistry to daily life: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
       (1) recognizes that the contributions of chemical 
     scientists and engineers have created new jobs, boosted 
     economic growth, and improved the Nation's health and 
     standard of living;
       (2) supports the goals and ideals of National Chemistry 
     Week; and
       (3) encourages the people of the United States to observe 
     National Chemistry Week with appropriate recognition, 
     activities, and programs to demonstrate the importance of 
     chemistry to everyday life.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. Gordon) and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Ehlers) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Tennessee.


                             General Leave

  Mr. GORDON of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that 
all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their 
remarks and to include extraneous material on H. Res. 793, the 
resolution now under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Tennessee?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. GORDON of Tennessee. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H. Res. 793, a 
resolution recognizing the importance of chemistry and honoring 
National Chemistry Week.
  I want to commend the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Reyes) for 
introducing this resolution.
  The importance of chemistry and chemical engineering in our lives 
cannot be overstated. These disciplines contribute to public health by 
helping to keep our water clean and our food pure. They contribute to 
advances in medicine through new biomaterials, drug design and drug 
delivery techniques. They help make cleaner and more efficient energy 
technologies possible, and they help keep toxins out of our homes and 
out of our natural environment through the development of green 
chemicals and materials.
  In short, chemistry and chemical engineering contribute in 
immeasurable ways to the economic strength, security, and well-being of 
our Nation and all its citizens. For this reason, it is important to 
get young people excited about chemistry and interested in pursuing 
careers in chemistry and in the sciences in general. National Chemistry 
Week plays a great role in this effort.
  National Chemistry Week activities are carried out by local sections 
of the American Chemical Society located in all parts of our Nation. It 
is estimated that over 10,000 volunteers from industry, government, and 
academia will participate in National Chemistry Week activities this 
year.
  They will be working to design hands-on activities, to provide 
demonstrations and to develop exhibits. Through these activities, they 
will help stimulate the interest of young people in chemistry and in 
pursuing careers in science and technology.
  So, Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the American Chemical Society for its 
efforts to establish and to sustain National Chemistry Week.
  Once again, I thank Mr. Reyes and his cosponsors for introducing this 
resolution, and I urge my colleagues to join me in recognizing the 
importance of chemistry in our daily lives and the positive impact of 
National Chemistry Week by supporting H. Res. 793.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. EHLERS. I yield myself as much time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res. 793, supporting the goals 
and ideals of National Chemistry Week.
  This year marks the 21st anniversary of National Chemistry Week. It 
is a concept that was first introduced in 1987 by the American Chemical 
Society, the world's largest scientific society and one of the premier 
scientific societies in our Nation. Over the past 20 years, this annual 
event has proven to be a great success, and it will continue this week 
with various events, celebrating the impact chemistry has made on our 
society from the very beginning.
  Designed to reach out to the public, especially elementary and 
secondary schoolchildren, the National Chemistry Week program will 
emphasize the importance of chemistry in everyday life with this year's 
theme, ``Chemistry--It's Elemental,'' which will celebrate the Periodic 
Table of Elements. Created 140 years ago this year by Dmitri Mendeleev, 
the Periodic Table of Elements articulates the very basis of the 
universe, and it consists of common elements used in our everyday lives 
as well as some fairly exotic elements which are rarely used in our 
everyday lives.
  Activities for the week will highlight the history of elements, the 
roles elements play in everyday life, the common and not-so-common uses 
of elements, and the history of the periodic table. This week is a 
wonderful opportunity for the public to engage in various events 
designed to increase the knowledge and awareness of chemistry's 
everyday effects.
  More than 10,000 volunteers from local areas, businesses and schools 
will unite this week to educate millions of children across the 
country. I am proud to be a cosponsor of this resolution, and I urge my 
colleagues to join me in honoring all those who are volunteering their 
time and who are promoting these various activities through National 
Chemistry Week.
  I would just like to add a few personal observations of things that 
I've encountered during my lifetime as a

[[Page H11473]]

scientist. I'm a physicist, not a chemist; but I have learned some 
chemistry. I remember speaking to a group about environmental issues 
sometime back, and a lady came up to me afterwards, and was very 
concerned--actually, I would say distressed.
  She said, I'm terribly concerned about all these chemicals today and 
what's happening to us and what it's doing to us and our bodies.
  I said, Well, that's certainly something to be concerned about. Do 
you have any chemicals specifically that you're worried about?
  She said, No, no. All of them.
  So I asked her if she liked to eat oranges. She said, Oh, yes, I love 
oranges.
  I said, In spite of the fact that they're filled with chemicals?
  She said she didn't know they were filled with chemicals.
  I said, Well, yes, things like vitamin C and lots of other foods and 
chemicals that are very useful to your body.
  The point that I made to her is that the question is not so much the 
chemicals; it's which chemicals. We have to recognize which are bad 
chemicals for individuals to ingest or to breathe and which ones are 
very good for us and are, in fact, very healthy. That's the point of 
what the Chemical Society is trying to develop here, that chemistry is 
an integral part of life. It is not bad in and of itself. In fact, it 
can be good in and of itself, but we should be aware as legislators and 
as scientists of the many great things that we have developed using 
chemistry which have improved living for people in this Nation and in 
other nations throughout the world.
  So let's all join in this particular effort. Let's recognize the 
tremendous strides we have taken forward thanks to chemistry and, for 
that matter, physics and other sciences. Let's recognize that these 
are, by and large, good for the people and good for the Nation. Let's 
all join in this great event which recognizes what the American 
Chemical Society and chemists in general have done for the past few 
years.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. GORDON of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to my friend, 
the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hinojosa).
  Mr. HINOJOSA. Thank you, Chairman Bart Gordon from Tennessee, for 
yielding time.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support H. Res. 793, a resolution 
recognizing the week of October 18 as National Chemistry Week.
  I want to thank Congressman Silvestre Reyes, co-Chair of the 
Diversity and Innovation Caucus, for sponsoring this resolution.
  The American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific 
society, established National Chemistry Week in 1987 to help educate 
the public, particularly school-aged children, about the important role 
of the chemical sciences and their significant contributions to our 
quality of life.

                              {time}  1500

  This year, more than 10,000 National Chemistry Week volunteers, from 
both the public and private sectors, will help educate millions of 
children about the practical applications of chemistry by engaging them 
through stimulating hands-on science activities in local schools, in 
libraries and museums around the whole country.
  During this year's observance of National Chemistry Week, students 
and chemistry professionals will celebrate the theme ``Chemistry--It's 
Elemental.'' This theme recognizes the 140th anniversary of Dmitri 
Mendeleev's creation of the periodic table of the elements. The 
elements are the basis of the universe and of life on Earth, composing 
the graphite in pencils, the tungsten in light bulbs and in neon 
lights, the copper for cooling applications and the sodium in table 
salt, almost everything we encounter in our day-to-day activities.
  The promotion of STEM education and the advancement of minorities in 
the STEM areas have become increasingly important in my congressional 
district and across the Nation.
  Mr. Speaker, just last month, the University of Texas-Pan American in 
Edinburg, Texas, held its eighth annual Hispanic Engineering Science 
and Technology Conference to promote the importance of science literacy 
to thousands of students, parents and teachers. It was a big success.
  HESTEC was created to address the shortage of scientists and 
engineers in our country. This year, the event drew more than 400,000 
participants in deep south Texas. Since its inception in 2002, the 
university has created an exceptional pipeline of Hispanic scientists 
and engineers.
  As chairman of the Subcommittee on Higher Education, Lifelong 
Learning, and Competitiveness, I am proud to say that in the past 2 
years, Congress has expanded educational opportunities in STEM 
education, particularly for women and minority students, and authorized 
programs to recruit highly qualified teachers to high-need school 
districts in the STEM areas with the passage of the College Cost 
Reduction and Access Act in 2007, as well as the passage of the Higher 
Education Opportunity Act in 2008.
  This legislation made historic investments in higher education to 
strengthen STEM education and create a new generation of minority 
workers in STEM fields. As you know, the House passed H.R. 3221, the 
Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, last month to increase 
affordability and accessibility in higher education.
  If the House-passed bill is signed into law, this legislation will 
provide $2.5 billion over a 10-year period to strengthen minority-
serving institutions in STEM areas and ensure that the students they 
serve graduate and become the engineers and scientists our country 
desperately needs.
  National Chemistry Week highlights the importance of chemistry and 
the natural sciences to our students. It's critical that our schools 
continue to cultivate exceptional scientists, engineers and technicians 
from every background to help strengthen our Nation's competitiveness 
and to promote scientific discovery and innovation in the 21st century.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Griffith). The time of the gentleman has 
expired.
  Mr. GORDON of Tennessee. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 
seconds.
  Mr. HINOJOSA. I want to thank Chairman Reyes from El Paso for 
introducing this resolution, H. Res. 793, and I thank Chairman Gordon 
for bringing it to the floor.
  Mr. Speaker, National Chemistry Week is critically important in 
promoting STEM issues in our schools and in preparing our students to 
pursue careers in STEM. I urge my colleagues to pass this bill.
  Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  First of all I want to commend the previous speaker, the gentleman 
from Texas (Mr. Hinojosa). We work together on the Education Committee, 
and I have always admired his deep interest in science and his desire 
to make science available to and comprehensible to everyone in this 
Nation, including those who have not had the opportunity to study it in 
elementary or high school.
  I commend him for his deep interest. Whenever I have needed help on 
this issue of science and science education, Mr. Hinojosa has jumped 
into the fray with me, so I want to take a minute to commend him on 
that.
  I also want to commend the Chair of the Science Committee, who has 
also been very helpful in these efforts. As most Members know, I was a 
professor for many years, a professor of physics. I taught every course 
at the college level, from the simplest to the most complicated. I have 
never lost my love for teaching, and particularly my effort to improve 
science education in the elementary and secondary schools.
  Mr. Hinojosa pointed out that if we do not produce a generation of 
scientists out of those students who are currently in elementary and 
secondary school, our Nation in the future will suffer because of that. 
On the next topic which will be coming to the floor, I will say more 
about that.
  It's absolutely essential that we recognize how important it is for 
our students to learn these subjects. Parents must realize that. I 
always tell the students, if you really want to make certain you have a 
job after you get out of college, study science. You may end up in 
medicine, as the Speaker pro tempore has, or you may end up in other 
fields. But it's quite likely you are not going to get as good a job if 
you don't bother to learn science. This is just the nature of the world 
today.
  Mr. REYES. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 793, a 
resolution I introduced to recognize the week of October 18th as 
National Chemistry Week.

[[Page H11474]]

  The American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific 
society, established National Chemistry Week in 1987 to educate the 
public, particularly school age children, about the important role of 
the chemical sciences and their significant contributions to our 
quality of life.
  This year, more than 10,000 National Chemistry Week volunteers from 
both the public and private sectors will help educate millions of 
children about the practical applications of chemistry by engaging them 
through stimulating hands-on science activities in local schools, 
libraries, and museums around the country.
  During this year's observance of National Chemistry Week, students 
and chemistry professionals will celebrate the theme ``Chemistry--It's 
Elemental!'' This theme was chosen to emphasize the 140th anniversary 
of Dmitri Mendeleev's creation of the Periodic Table of the Elements. 
The elements are the basis of the universe and of life on Earth, 
composing graphite in pencils; tungsten in light bulbs and neon lights; 
copper for cooling applications; and sodium in table salt--almost 
everything we encounter in our day-to-day activities.
  Local El Paso college students are doing their part to promote 
chemistry in our community by coordinating the Chemistry Circus. 
Sponsored by the Department of Chemistry at the University of Texas at 
El Paso and performed by the American Chemical Society Student 
Affiliates, the Chemistry Circus incorporates short vignettes that 
explore many fundamental concepts of chemical science. The performances 
are presented throughout the school year to K-12 audiences--and 
adults--emphasizing Texas science academic standards.
  The promotion of student advancement and success in the STEM fields 
is one of my highest priorities. In 2008, I founded the Diversity and 
Innovation Caucus with five of my colleagues in the House of 
Representatives in order to generate policy ideas for increasing the 
participation of underrepresented groups in the fields of Science, 
Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, articulate the importance of 
pro-STEM and pro-innovation policies for underrepresented groups in 
STEM fields, and communicate the importance of promoting diversity in 
STEM for the achievement of America's innovation and competitiveness 
goals.
  Over the past year, I am proud to say that the caucus has produced 
key legislative initiatives that promote the recruitment of highly-
qualified teachers to high-need school districts, the development of 
laboratory facilities at less privileged schools, and the recruitment 
of minority students to the STEM fields through the reauthorization of 
the Higher Education Act.
  Emphasizing the importance of chemistry and the natural sciences to 
our students is essential to ensure that our schools continue to 
cultivate the finest scientists, engineers, and technicians from every 
background. Educating our children about the importance of chemistry 
and the natural sciences will help strengthen our nation's economic 
competitiveness and foster American ingenuity and innovation in the 
years ahead.
  Mr. Speaker, National Chemistry Week is a vital component in the 
effort to promote STEM issues in our schools. I therefore urge my 
colleagues to support this effort through the passage of this 
resolution.
  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in 
support of House Resolution 793 to support the goals and ideals of 
National Chemistry Week.
  This year, National Chemistry Week takes place on October 18-24 and 
is a community-based annual event that unites local sections of the 
American Chemical Society, schools, businesses, and individuals to 
communicate the importance of chemistry in our daily life. This year 
marks the 22nd Anniversary of National Chemistry Week, and events and 
demonstrations will take place across the country to engage students of 
all ages. This year's theme, ``Chemistry--It's Elemental,'' emphasizes 
the important role of elements in everyday life and celebrates the 
140th anniversary of Dmitri Mendeleev's creation of the Periodic Table 
of Elements.
  I have been a strong supporter of the Science, Technology, 
Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields and have long encouraged 
students and teachers to hold STEM education in higher regard. It is 
well documented that science and math skills are becoming increasingly 
important to the U.S. workforce, and with the creation of a new, 
competitive, and complex global economy, we must ensure that we are 
educating the next generation of STEM professionals. Innovation is a 
product of a sound knowledge in math, science, and engineering, and 
without this understanding, our ability to be innovative will decrease 
along with our ability to be competitive.
  For this reason, I believe it is incredibly important to recognize 
the goals of National Chemistry Week to increase our understanding, and 
our students' understanding, of the chemical sciences. I applaud the 
American Chemistry Society's efforts in this regard and encourage my 
colleagues to join me in supporting House Resolution 793 for our 
students and the future of our economy.
  Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. GORDON of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, in conclusion, let me thank Dr. 
Ehlers for bringing both his real-world experience to the Science 
Committee, as well as his passion for the work that we do there. He 
makes us a better committee.
  I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of 
my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Gordon) that the House suspend the rules 
and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 793.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________