Joe Baca: “I rise in support of H.R. 3130. Mr. Speaker, first of all, I would like to commend the minority chairman and the…”

“I rise in support of H.R. 3130. Mr. Speaker, first of all, I would like to commend the minority chairman and the chairman for a bipartisan bill that really addresses the needs of our Nation. And I say the needs of our Nation because when we look at technology, we look at our future and we look at a vision of where we need to be, and that is preparing students in the area of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. We all realize it has declined, but yet the priorities were set there because a vision is there for our Nation, and that is to make sure that we prepare our students to make sure that they can guide us, because they are our future. This bill addresses the problem by funding a program at the NSF to provide grants to institutions of higher education. These grants will be used to increase the number and quality of graduates from physical science, mathematics, engineering and technology degree and transfer programs. Just as importantly, this bill recognizes that the institutions that serve unique purposes also have unique needs.”