[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 186 (Tuesday, November 27, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H9580-H9581]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    WOMEN IN AEROSPACE EDUCATION ACT

  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
concur in the Senate amendment to 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.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the Senate amendment is as follows:
  Senate amendment:

       Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:

     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 
     encourage the recruitment of qualified candidates who are 
     women or individuals who are 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 
Texas (Mr. Smith) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Veasey) each will 
control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Smith).


                             General Leave

  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and 
to include extraneous material on H.R. 4254, the bill now under 
consideration.

[[Page H9581]]

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Texas?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I support H.R. 4254, the Women in Aerospace Education 
Act, as amended by the Senate. I speak on behalf of the bill's sponsor, 
Representative Steve Knight, who could not be here this afternoon, but 
he has worked for more than a year to get the bill across the finish 
line.
  H.R. 4254, directs NASA and the National Science Foundation, through 
the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program, to use their fellowships 
and internships to encourage more women to get aerospace experience 
while they are training to be science and mathematics teachers.
  These teachers are then better equipped to educate and inspire 
students to pursue studies and careers in aerospace.
  Twenty percent of U.S. aerospace engineers are of retirement age 
today. They are beginning to exit our workforce, which will create a 
shortfall in our national security preparedness.
  Meanwhile, women represent only about one-quarter of all science, 
technology, engineering, and math, or STEM workers, and 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 the completion 
of a degree in STEM fields.
  Attitudes about career paths are formed at a young age. The role 
models and young leaders from which women learn have an enormous impact 
on future decisionmaking.
  The Women in Aerospace Education Act directs some of the Federal 
Government's best teacher training programs to increase the number of 
women teachers who can educate students about the Nation's leading 
aerospace programs.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate Representative Steve Knight and 
his cosponsors, Representative Elizabeth Esty, and Research and 
Technology Subcommittee Chairwoman Barbara Comstock for advancing this 
bipartisan legislation. We look forward to its being signed into law 
soon.
  If all goes well, it will be the 15th Science, Space, and Technology 
Committee bill to be enacted into law this Congress, and one of 35 
bills that the committee has passed in the House this year.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill and send it to 
the President's desk, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4254, the Women in Aerospace 
Education Act. I want to thank Mr. Knight and Ms. Esty for introducing 
this very important piece of legislation.
  Women continue to be underrepresented in the aerospace sector. For 
example, a 2016 analysis revealed that over the past 15 years, women 
have made up, on average, just 15 percent of NASA's planetary mission 
science teams.

                              {time}  1615

  While there has been increasing interest in supporting women's 
advancement in all STEM fields, particularly on the Science, Space, and 
Technology Committee, the low representation of women on NASA's 
planetary science mission teams has remained largely unchanged. I am 
heartened by recent efforts at NASA to tackle the issue of diversity on 
its planetary science mission teams.
  The 2016 New Frontiers 4 call for proposals included new language 
highlighting the benefits of diverse and inclusive mission teams. I was 
pleased to see that one of the finalists for this competition, the 
Dragonfly mission to Saturn's moon Titan, is led by a woman.
  Additionally, one of the two missions selected in 2017 for NASA's 
Discovery Program, the Psyche mission to a metallic asteroid, is also 
led by a woman. The principal investigator of the Psyche mission, Dr. 
Lindy Elkins-Tanton, is now the second woman to lead a competitive 
planetary science mission for NASA.
  Yesterday's successful landing of NASA's InSight spacecraft on the 
surface of Mars offers another reason to feel optimistic. The team of 
scientists and engineers that made the groundbreaking landing possible 
included 135 women, or about 25 percent of the team. To build on this 
progress, H.R. 4254 addresses the challenges in recruiting and 
retaining talented women in aerospace by directing NASA to promote 
internship and fellowship opportunities to women. The bill also directs 
NSF to include research experiences at National Laboratories and NASA 
centers in the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program.
  Research has shown that the best teams are those in which good ideas 
are heard. Gender diversity on NASA's planetary science missions and in 
the aerospace sector more broadly will lead to more diverse questions 
and approaches to solutions. To get the best science, we need more 
women in aerospace, and H.R. 4254 will help to get us there.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my fellow Members to support H.R. 4254, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Smith) that the House suspend the rules and 
concur in the Senate amendment to the bill, H.R. 4254.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the Senate amendment was concurred in.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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