[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 1991]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           STEM GATEWAYS ACT

  (Mr. KENNEDY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. Speaker, our country's economic forecast continues 
to improve, which is a good thing, but we do risk leaving far too many 
people behind as we come out of a recession. That is an issue for us 
all.
  STEM education--science, technology, engineering, and mathematics--is 
a critical vehicle in making sure that all Americans have access to the 
economic gains that will power our country for the next generation. 
Over the next 10 years, STEM jobs will grow at normally double the rate 
of non-STEM jobs, and at all levels of education, STEM careers earn 
about 11 percent higher wages compared to their counterparts in other 
jobs.
  Mr. Speaker, this is an enormous opportunity, but, to date, our 
efforts around STEM education have left huge segments of our population 
behind. Combined, Hispanics and African Americans only occupy about 13 
percent of all STEM jobs. While women make up nearly half of the 
workforce overall, only 26 percent of STEM jobs are held by women. In 
2013, there were 11 States in which not a single African American 
student took a computer science advanced placement test, and there were 
eight States in which no Hispanic students did and three States in 
which no women did.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a challenge for us all. With this in mind, I 
rise, along with Representative Tonko and Senator Gillibrand, to 
introduce the STEM Gateways Act, which will try to make sure that 
access to the jobs of tomorrow is spread to all Americans.

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