[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 96 (Monday, June 11, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S3720]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 2772. Mr. DURBIN (for Ms. Duckworth (for herself, Mr. Durbin, Mrs. 
Ernst, and Mr. Grassley)) submitted an amendment intended to be 
proposed to amendment SA 2282 proposed by Mr. Inhofe (for himself and 
Mr. McCain) to the bill H.R. 5515, to authorize appropriations for 
fiscal year 2019 for military activities of the Department of Defense, 
for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department 
of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal 
year, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as 
follows:

       At the end of subtitle B of title II, add the following:

     SEC. ___. STEM JOBS ACTION PLAN.

       (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
       (1) Jobs in science, technology, engineering, and math in 
     addition to maintenance and manufacturing (collectively 
     referred to in this section as ``STEM'') make up a 
     significant portion of the workforce of the Department of 
     Defense.
       (2) These jobs exist within the organic industrial base, 
     research, development, and engineering centers, life-cycle 
     management commands, and logistics centers of the Department.
       (3) Vital to the continued support of the mission of all of 
     the military services, the Department needs to maintain its 
     STEM workforce.
       (4) It is known that the demographics of personnel of the 
     Department indicate that many of the STEM personnel of the 
     Department will be eligible to retire in the next few years.
       (5) Decisive action is needed to replace STEM personnel as 
     they retire to ensure that the military does not further 
     suffer a skill and knowledge gap and thus a serious readiness 
     gap.
       (b) Assessments and Plan of Action.--The Secretary of 
     Defense, in conjunction with the Secretary of each military 
     department, shall --
       (1) perform an assessment of the STEM workforce for 
     organizations within the Department of Defense, including the 
     numbers and types of positions and the expectations for 
     losses due to retirements and voluntary departures;
       (2) identify the types and quantities of STEM jobs needed 
     to support future mission work;
       (3) determine the shortfall between lost STEM personnel and 
     future requirements;
       (4) analyze and explain the appropriateness and impact of 
     using reimbursable and working capital fund dollars for new 
     STEM hires;
       (5) identify a plan of action to address the STEM jobs gap, 
     including hiring strategies and timelines for replacement of 
     STEM employees; and
       (6) deliver to Congress, not later than December 31, 2019, 
     a report specifying such plan of action.
                                 ______