[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 2408]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        NATIONAL ENGINEERS WEEK

  (Mr. TONKO asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, this being National Engineers Week, I rise to 
recognize the importance of STEM education and training for our future 
engineers.
  It has been projected that our Nation will need almost 2 million 
engineers by 2018, and that some fields in engineering will experience 
a 30 to 70 percent growth during that timeframe.
  Despite these critical workforce needs, a vast majority of schools do 
not offer K through 12 education that creates clear pathways into 
careers in engineering and STEM-related feeds.
  This week, I visited Tech Valley High School in Albany, New York, in 
the 20th District, to highlight this need and celebrate the good work 
being done in my congressional district to close the skills gap we see 
in this very vital discipline.
  The nations that lead the global economy of the future will be those 
that invest in the education of their next generation--particularly in 
engineering. I urge my colleagues to recognize this need and to work in 
their own communities to bolster engineering education nationwide and 
allow our Nation to become the kingpin of the future international 
economy. Let's grow and cultivate those engineers.

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