Liz Saville Roberts: “I rise today to introduce sweeping legislation to reform and improve math, science, engineering and technology education…”

“I rise today to introduce sweeping legislation to reform and improve math, science, engineering and technology education in American schools. The fields of science, math, engineering and technology are critical to U.S. economic success. Unfortunately, there is growing concern that we do not measure up as evidenced by studies that show our students cannot compete internationally. In fact, over half of students in our esteemed graduate schools are from other countries. Our economic future depends on science and we must ensure that our schools are preparing students for the technological jobs that await them. So many aspects of our national success depends on our technological savvy. For instance, our strong economy has certainly prospered because of technology advances. The economic boom, witnessed by average consumers and Wall Street analysts alike, has high stakes in our continued technology success. Meanwhile, our workforce is increasingly staffed by people from other countries. Later this year, Congress will be asked to again raise the quota of H-1B visas. While these workers are key to our economic success, we must address this problem and grow our own high-tech labor force. Moreover, we cannot forget how adversely our national security could fare if our country were to fall behind in technological pursuits. A key piece of our national security is at stake--the strength of our military is built upon our technological superiority.”