[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 59 (Monday, April 18, 2016)]
[House]
[Pages H1774-H1776]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
{time} 1630
100 YEARS OF WOMEN IN CONGRESS ACT
Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the
rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4570) to amend the Department of
Agriculture program for research and extension grants to increase
participation by women and underrepresented minorities in the fields of
science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to redesignate the
program as the ``Jeannette Rankin Women and Minorities in STEM Fields
Program''.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 4570
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``100 Years of Women in
Congress Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The first woman elected to Congress, Representative
Jeannette Rankin from Montana, was elected on November 7,
1916, almost four years prior to ratification of the 19th
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution giving women the right to
vote.
(2) Jeannette Rankin was not only a pioneer in national
electoral politics, she was also a pioneer as a woman in
science, graduating from the University of Montana in 1902
with a Bachelor of Science degree in biology.
(3) 100 years after the election of Jeannette Rankin, 108
women serve in the 114th Congress, more than at any other
time in our Nation's history. While this improvement is
commendable, women hold only 20 percent of the seats in
Congress, far below their relative share of the American
electorate.
(4) According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, women
make up 47 percent of the total U.S. workforce. Gains have
been made in the science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics (STEM) fields over time, but women still comprise
only 39 percent of chemists and material scientists, 28
percent of environmental scientists and
[[Page H1775]]
geoscientists, 16 percent of chemical engineers, and 12
percent of civil engineers.
(5) More must be done to encourage women to run for elected
office and to enter STEM fields.
SEC. 3. JEANNETTE RANKIN WOMEN AND MINORITIES IN STEM FIELDS
PROGRAM.
Paragraph (7) of section 1672(d) of the Food, Agriculture,
Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5925(d)(7)) is
amended to read as follows:
``(7) Jeannette rankin women and minorities in stem fields
program.--Research and extension grants may be made under
this section to increase participation by women and
underrepresented minorities from rural areas in the fields of
science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, with
priority given to eligible institutions that carry out
continuing programs funded by the Secretary. Any grant made
under this paragraph shall be known and designated as a
`Jeannette Rankin Women and Minorities in STEM Fields Program
Grant'.''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Illinois (Mr. Rodney Davis) and the gentlewoman from Washington (Ms.
DelBene) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Illinois.
General Leave
Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent
that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and
extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under
consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Illinois?
There was no objection.
Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4570, the 100 Years of Women
in Congress Act. This legislation would honor a true pioneer of
American politics by naming an important agricultural research program
as the Jeannette Rankin Women and Minorities in STEM Fields Program.
This competitive research grants program is designed to increase
participation by women and underrepresented minorities from rural areas
in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
I can think of no better person to identify with this important
program than former Representative Rankin, who was the first woman to
serve in the United States House of Representatives, an achievement
made even more significant by the fact that Ms. Rankin was elected to
Congress several years prior to the ratification of the 19th Amendment
granting women the right to vote.
I urge all of my colleagues to support this legislation.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. DelBENE. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I also rise in support of H.R. 4570, the 100 Years of
Women in Congress Act. This is bipartisan legislation on a topic that
is critical for our country and personally important to me.
This legislation would honor the first woman elected to Congress in
1916, Jeannette Rankin, by renaming USDA's Women and Minorities in STEM
Fields Program as the Jeannette Rankin Women and Minorities in STEM
Fields Grant Program.
Jeannette Rankin graduated with a degree in biology long before it
was common for women to be scientists, and she was elected to Congress
before women had the right to vote. As a fellow Pacific northwesterner,
she continues to be an inspiration today.
There is no doubt that we need more women, especially more women
leaders, in STEM fields. The year I graduated from college, women
received 37 percent of the computer sciences degrees. Today it is below
20 percent.
One explanation for this is that, in the early days of PCs, computers
were seen as toys and were marketed heavily to boys, not girls.
Eventually, young women considered computer science and showed up on
college campuses and found themselves alone in computer science
classrooms dominated by men.
Before Congress, I had a long career in the technology sector and
worked with a lot of developers in the early days of email, so I know
what it is like to be the only woman in the room.
Thankfully, I had a strong female role model, my mother, who showed
my sisters and me that we could do anything we wanted in our careers.
So I know firsthand how important it is that our kids develop the
skills they need to have bright futures and help make sure the United
States remains a leader in technology and innovation. Children,
especially young women, need more role models like Jeannette Rankin so
they can see themselves in STEM fields.
I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take a
brief moment to thank my colleague, Ms. DelBene, for her kind comments
and for helping to ensure that this great bill is going to make it
through with a very bipartisan majority.
I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from the great
State of Montana (Mr. Zinke), my colleague who is one of the most
courageous Members of Congress, somebody who served our Nation in our
U.S. military for many years and deserves our thanks.
Mr. ZINKE. Mr. Speaker, I rise on behalf of the women of Montana to
advocate for renaming the Women and Minorities in STEM Fields Grant
Program to honor former Montana Congresswoman Jeannette Rankin. Yes, I
do hold her seat and, yes, she held the first seat in Montana before
women could vote.
I would like to also say that she was a true Montanan. She embodied
the pioneer spirit that we know and love. She led the way in so many
different areas to include:
She was one of the first to graduate from the University of Montana
with a degree in biology. She voted against both wars because she could
not fight. Her spirit blazoned the trails and gave us leadership. She
was also a gifted scientific mind and an early pioneer.
The grant program is an important tool for young women today to
continue their education in STEM and possibly break new ground, like
Jeannette Rankin, and blaze new trails for young women of tomorrow,
today, and our future.
I would like to add that my own staffer, Ms. Jocelyn Galt, is a
relative of Jeannette Rankin. She, too, demonstrates the tenacity and
determination that made Jeannette Rankin successful and feared among
her peers.
Renaming this program in Representative Rankin's honor is the right
thing to do because it a reminder of those who had courage to break
down the barriers, had the tenacity to not let go of their dreams, and
the courage to be a mentor and an inspiration to us all.
I am happy to partner with Representative Grace Meng on this
important endeavor. I thank her for her leadership.
Ms. DelBENE. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the
gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Meng), the sponsor of this legislation.
Ms. MENG. Mr. Speaker, I am so pleased to be here today to celebrate
the 100th anniversary of women serving in Congress. Thank you for
allowing this legislation to come to the floor.
I also thank my friend and colleague, Representative Zinke, for
offering this legislation with me. His support has been instrumental in
ensuring the consideration of this bill, and I am deeply grateful to
him.
A hundred years ago this November, the people of Montana elected
Jeannette Rankin to the United States House of Representatives. She was
the first woman elected to Congress and was elected before passage of
the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote.
Jeannette Rankin was a trailblazer her entire life. In 1902, she
graduated from the University of Montana with a degree in biology.
Afterward, she would become active in the women's suffrage movement,
moving to New York City and assisting in the founding of the New York
Woman Suffrage Party and working for the National American Woman
Suffrage Party.
She would return to Montana and was elected to office in the
congressional election of 1916. Upon winning, she declared: ``I may be
the first woman Member of Congress, but I won't be the last.''
I am happy to say she was right.
[[Page H1776]]
In recognition of Congresswoman Jeannette Rankin's many
accomplishments and in celebration of the centennial anniversary of her
election to Congress, Representative Zinke and I introduced the 100
Years of Women in Congress Act.
Because Jeannette Rankin was a woman of science more than 100 years
before our current push to have more women enter STEM fields, we felt
it appropriate to rename the Department of Agriculture's Women and
Minorities in STEM Fields Grant Program after her.
This program currently supports collaborative research projects at
institutions of higher education, which seek to increase the
participation of women and minorities from rural areas in STEM fields.
It will continue to do so into the future, but now it will also
recognize the many contributions Jeannette Rankin made to American
life.
Mr. Speaker, thank you again for allowing this legislation to come to
the floor today, and I thank Congressman Zinke for partnering with me
on it.
I urge all of my colleagues to support this measure.
Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of
my time.
Ms. DelBENE. Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to join me and all of us
here in support of this bill.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, it has been 100 years
since the first woman was elected to serve in this great institution,
and now I am blessed to serve with so many great women on both sides of
the aisle.
This is a recognition that is long overdue.
I urge all of my colleagues, along with those you have already heard
today, to support this important piece of legislation to give Ms.
Rankin the respect and the honor that she deserves when she walked here
100 years ago.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4570,
the ``100 Years of Women in Congress Act,'' which renames the existing
Women and Minorities in STEM Fields Program, or WAMS program, through
the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as the ``Jeannette Rankin Women and
Minorities in STEM Fields Program.''
I commend Congresswoman Meng and Congressman Zinke for introducing
this bipartisan legislation which:
Highlights the importance and contributions of women Members in
Congress;
Recognizes the importance of the Suffragette Movement in achieving
opportunities for women;
Emphasizes the imperative of promoting education for women in STEM;
and
Affirms our nation's commitment to expanding opportunities for rural
women in my home state of Texas and across the country.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the first woman being
elected to Congress, Representative Jeannette Rankin of Montana.
This bill is a fitting way to honor Representative Rankin's legacy,
and to celebrate the many contributions of the female lawmakers who
have succeeded her in this institution.
Jeannette Rankin was a trailblazer who broke barriers throughout her
lifetime and whose example continues to inspire women the world over.
She graduated from the University of Montana with a biology degree in
1902.
She later became active in the women's suffrage movement, organizing
the New York Women's Suffrage Party and working for the National
American Woman Suffrage Association.
In 1916, Representative Rankin became the first woman elected to
Congress, even before the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which
guaranteed the right to vote to women.
For all of her contributions to women's rights, to political
activism, and to this institution, it is only fitting to pay tribute to
her achievements.
The USDA WAMS program was created specifically to encourage women and
minorities from rural areas to participate in research and projects in
the sciences.
Women and minorities have been and continue to be underrepresented in
STEM fields.
Although women make up 47 percent of the total U.S. labor force, they
comprise only 36 percent of the computing workforce, 24 percent of the
engineering workforce, and 18 percent of the advanced manufacturing
workforce.
Indeed, minority representation in STEM fields is even lower, with
African-American and Latino workers comprising 29 percent of the
general workforce, but only 15 percent of the computing workforce, 12
percent of the engineering workforce, and 6 percent of the advanced
manufacturing workforce.
The WAMS program is one way that we can address these glaring
disparities.
WAMS grants are awarded to universities and institutions of higher
learning to distribute to eligible applicants, and they prioritize
projects and programs of particular relevance to USDA.
Recipient institutions have used WAMS grants for worthy endeavors,
such as: establishing a WAMS fellowship program for women and minority
high school students in rural areas; providing mentorship and hands-on,
service-based learning to high school students and undergraduates in
particular STEM fields; and offering mentoring services to current
undergraduates to help them successfully complete STEM-based degrees.
Because Representative Rankin is a graduate of the sciences from a
rural area, renaming the WAMS program as the Jeannette Rankin Women and
Minorities in STEM Fields Program is the perfect way to honor her
legacy as a woman of the sciences and the first woman elected to
Congress, and to encourage the next generation of women and minorities
from rural areas to take up STEM fields.
I join my colleagues in support of this important measure.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Rodney Davis) that the House suspend the
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 4570.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas
and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.
____________________