Congressional Record, Volume 163 Issue 206 (Monday, December 18, 2017)

[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 206 (Monday, December 18, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H10160-H10161]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

{time} 1745
WOMEN IN AEROSPACE EDUCATION ACT

Mr. KNIGHT. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 4254) to amend the National Science Foundation Authorization
Act of 2002 to strengthen the aerospace workforce pipeline by the
promotion of Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program and National
Aeronautics and Space Administration internship and fellowship
opportunities to women, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:

H.R. 4254

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 ``Women in Aerospace Education
Act''.

SEC. 2. ROBERT NOYCE TEACHER SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM FELLOWSHIP
OPPORTUNITIES.

(a) In General.--The National Science Foundation
Authorization Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-368; 42 U.S.C.
1862n et seq.) is amended--
(1) in section 10(a)(3)(A)(iv), by inserting ``, including
research experiences at national laboratories and NASA
centers'' before the semicolon; and
(2) in section 10A(c)(4)--
(A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(B) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period at the end
and inserting ``; and''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(C) providing internship opportunities for fellows,
including research experiences at national laboratories and
NASA Centers.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a)
shall apply with respect to grants awarded on or after
October 1, 2018.

SEC. 3. NASA INTERNSHIP AND FELLOWSHIP OPPORTUNITIES.

Not later than October 1, 2018, the Administrator of the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (in this
section referred to as ``NASA'') shall institute a process to
prioritize the recruitment of qualified candidates who are
women or individuals who are historically underrepresented in
the fields of science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics (STEM) and computer science for internships and
fellowships at NASA with relevance to the aerospace sector
and related fields.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
California (Mr. Knight) and the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Eddie
Bernice Johnson) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.

General Leave

Mr. KNIGHT. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include
extraneous material on H.R. 4254, the bill now under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from California?
There was no objection.
Mr. KNIGHT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I am taking this opportunity to speak on an important
initiative to strengthen our aerospace workforce. H.R. 4254, the Women
in Aerospace Education Act, directs the National Science Foundation
through the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program and NASA, to shape
their fellowship and internship opportunities to encourage more women
to get aerospace expertise while they are training to be teachers.
Female aerospace professionals must be placed in the classroom in
greater numbers. A full fifth of U.S. aerospace engineers are of
retirement age today. They are beginning to exit our workforce, which
will create an enormous shortfall in our national security
preparedness.
Meanwhile, women represent only one-quarter of all STEM workers and
represent only about 15 percent of all aerospace engineers. We need to
improve our STEM education pipeline--from ensuring STEM classes are
available to students at a young age to encouraging young Americans to
pursue STEM education all the way through to completing their degree.
But the gender gap that is so prevalent in this industry will persist
until we make STEM and aerospace more inclusive of women and encourage
women at a young age to pursue these fields.
Attitudes about career paths are formed at a very young age. The role
models and leaders from which young women learn have an enormous impact
on the decisions they make throughout their formal education as they
enter the workforce.
I introduced the Women in Aerospace Education Act to make better use
of some of the Federal Government's best teacher training programs to
increase the number of women teachers who have seen, worked on, and can
relate to the Nation's leading aerospace programs to young female
students.
Robert Noyce scholars, who get teacher certification assistance from
the National Science Foundation, are already, in small numbers, getting
experience in NASA centers and the national labs.
Once they become certified and go teach in the K-12 system, they draw
upon the work they did on major public initiatives in science and
technology. Schools love having Noyce program teachers because their
strong positive attitudes about STEM are cultivated in the students. It
will strengthen our STEM pipeline to enhance the connection between the
Noyce scholarship program and our schools.
The second provision of this bill directs NASA to more actively
promote its internship and fellowship opportunities to women or members
of other historically underrepresented groups.
Together, the two provisions of this bill will help a necessary and
fundamental shift in our education system in aerospace workforce.
I would like to thank Ms. Esty for her help on this bill, and I
encourage my colleagues to support this legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such
time as I may consume. I rise in support of H.R. 4254, the Women in
Aerospace Education Act.

=========================== NOTE ===========================

December 18, 2017, on page H10160, the following appeared: Ms.
EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of

The online version has been corrected to read: Ms. EDDIE BERNICE
JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume. I rise in support of

========================= END NOTE =========================

I want to thank Mr. Knight and Ms. Esty for introducing this bill.
Women continue to be woefully underrepresented in the aerospace sector.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women made up only 8
percent of aerospace engineers last year. While we are inspired by the
career of NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, who holds the U.S. record for
days in space, we must do more to ensure that successes like hers are
the rule and not the exception.
H.R. 4254 will help address the underrepresentation of women at all
levels in aerospace education and in the workforce by privatizing the
recruitment of qualified women to apply for NASA internships and
fellowships. Some of these women will go on to be STEM teachers, and
others will have research or industry careers. They will all benefit
from participating in the NASA programs, and I urge my colleagues to
support this bill.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. KNIGHT. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers. I continue to
reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time
as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. Esty).
Ms. ESTY of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Women
in Aerospace Education Act. I want to thank my friend and colleague,
Congressman Knight, for working with me to address critical workforce
needs and bridge the gender gap in the aerospace industry.
Mr. Speaker, quite simply, we do not have enough skilled aerospace
workers in America, and the problem is growing worse. According to a
2015 Aviation Week Workforce Study, nearly one-fifth--one-fifth--of our
aerospace engineers are now eligible for retirement. What is more,
women only account for

[[Page H10161]]

about 15 percent of all aerospace engineers. That means that women
represent a tremendous opportunity, an untapped resource for a sector
vital to our economy and to our national security.
Bringing women to the table is not only the right thing to do, it is
the smart and necessary thing to do in order to keep America
competitive in a 21st century economy.
Women provide new and essential perspective in the workplace, driving
innovation and strengthening our ability to address new challenges.
With an aging workforce, we must do everything in our power to broaden
and deepen the pool of skilled workers and provide all Americans with
the skills they need to compete in a global economy.

Aerospace companies in northwest and central Connecticut, like
Ensign-Bickford, Praxair, and United Technologies Corporation, have
shared with me for years their concerns about this aging workforce.
That is because they are looking down the line, and they know that if
they don't diversify their workforce soon, shortages of skilled workers
could force these companies to relocate or even leave the United
States.
Our bill, the Women in Aerospace Education Act, addresses the need to
expand and diversify the STEM workforce in two ways.
First, our bill supports hands-on experiences for teachers. The Women
in Aerospace Education Act does this by encouraging universities
applying for Noyce grants to incorporate aerospace working and learning
experiences at the national laboratories and NASA centers into their
fellowship programs.
Second, our bill specifically targets diversifying the aerospace
workforce by allowing the National Science Foundation to prioritize
women and other underrepresented groups working in aerospace
engineering when awarding the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship grants.
Noyce teacher grants play a vital role in placing STEM teachers in
rural or lower-income school districts, which all too often do not have
access to the resources, to give students robust hands-on science. Our
bill will help ensure that more female STEM teachers will enter
classrooms with firsthand knowledge of how aerospace technologies are
strengthening America's future.
This is important. This is important because it is a fact that girls
who have women science teachers are more likely to consider a career in
the sciences, and teachers who are exposed to hands-on, real-life
science are better able to kindle that interest in science among their
students.
Let me give you an example of what a difference these efforts will
make. Kelley Johnson is a member of my STEM Advisory Board. She is a
founder and president of Doors to Explore, Incorporated, a startup in
my district that provides an online resource for young people to
explore STEM careers.
Growing up, Kelley had no idea what aerospace engineering was; that
is, until a local company donated a Wang computer to her high school,
which allowed her to take her first computer science classes. Kelley
went on to work at NASA where she designed electronics for two
satellites. Her time at NASA was instrumental in developing her
critical thinking skills and provided her with an even stronger
foundation in STEM that she has used in every job since.
Kelley's early exposure to computer science and her work at NASA
launched her into a successful career in STEM, and she is now sharing
that with a new generation of students.
I am committed to making Kelley's experience available to young women
and men all across this country who would thrive from mentorship from
female science teachers or work experience at NASA or the national
labs.
Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Knight for his leadership on this
bill and on this important issue. I urge my colleagues to support the
Women in Aerospace Education Act.
Mr. KNIGHT. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I have no further
requests for time. I urge passage, and I yield back the balance of my
time.
Mr. KNIGHT. Mr. Speaker, I think Members can hear that we have got
passion here, and Ms. Johnson, Ms. Esty, and I believe that talk is
cheap, and this is actually going to do something. If we are going to
talk about STEM continually, and we are going to try and push this
maybe into an arena that hasn't been pushed before, then let's do
something. That is exactly what this is doing.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from California (Mr. Knight) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 4254, as amended.
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. KNIGHT. 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.

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