[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 139 (Wednesday, September 14, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1273]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 IN CELEBRATION OF THE NATIONAL TECHNICAL ASSOCIATION 90TH ANNIVERSARY

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                       HON. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 14, 2016

  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, on November 12, 
1925, nine African American engineers, scientists, and architects met 
at the Wabash YMCA in Chicago and began plans to form the first 
national minority multidisciplinary technical organization. They 
founded the National Technical Association (NTA) to serve the minority 
community and this nation through technical leadership, technical 
innovation and research, and science education.
  The following year, on August 26, 1926, NTA was incorporated in the 
state of Illinois. It was the only formally organized minority 
technical voice from 1926 until the early 1970s. NTA worked alongside 
other African American community organizations such as the NAACP, the 
Urban League, and the National Association of Black Professional Women 
to provide the technical perspective on issues facing minority 
communities.
  NTA members have served as advisors to U.S. Presidents on technical 
matters starting with President Herbert Hoover, whose presidential term 
coincided with that of the first NTA President, Charles S. Duke, 1929 
through 1934. Duke met with Hoover in 1931 at a time when the President 
refused to meet with all other Black leaders. Under the leadership of 
Duke, NTA members advocated for years and helped to win support for 
better housing and housing assistance at the local and federal levels 
for minorities who were living in run-down, over-crowded tenements. 
Many of the NTA architects and engineers designed and built the 
resulting housing developments.
  NTA members were among the first African Americans to obtain advanced 
degrees in science and engineering and many helped to develop science 
and engineering curricula and degree programs at Historically Black 
Colleges and Universities. Many NTA Members were scientists and 
engineers on the Manhattan Project, the nation's first big science 
project.
  NTA members have pioneered scientific research breakthroughs and 
created technical innovations that have improved the quality of life of 
all Americans. This elite group includes entrepreneurs, top government 
administrators, corporate leaders, and exceptional senior scientists 
and engineers working in outer space exploration, energy research and 
development, environmental protection, climate change, computer 
science, and cybersecurity.
  NTA members have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences and 
the National Academy of Engineering; selected as fellows of major 
technical societies across all fields of science and engineering, and 
been honored with the nation's highest technical awards, including as 
inductees in the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
  NTA serves as a beacon of light and hope to minority youth and 
encourages them to follow their dreams and pursue technical studies and 
careers. It guides students to seek technical excellence and become 
technical innovators who will help secure the American economic future.
  NTA is playing a pivotal role in uniting the collective voices of a 
multi-cultural coalition of minority technical organizations to promote 
the diversification of the technical workforce.
  Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the National Technical Association for 90 
years of vision and technical leadership provided to our nation. I am 
excited to join in the celebrations and encourage our nation to pay 
tribute to NTA and its membership on this historic occasion. Because of 
NTA, our nation is stronger technically, and the future of minority 
participation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics is 
forever brighter.

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