On the recordFebruary 15, 2011
As one of only a handful of engineers in Congress, I am proud again to sponsor a resolution honoring our Nation's engineers during National Engineers Week. This is my seventh year introducing this resolution, and it has a special significance this year. Next week will mark the 60th anniversary of Engineers Week, and with nearly half of the practicing engineers in our country eligible to retire over the next few years, the central goal of Engineers Week, attracting new students to engineering careers, has never been more important. That is why educating and inspiring America's youth about engineering and science needs to be a national priority. Engineers design and build all of our everyday products, such as bridges, airplanes, roads, computers, medical devices, cars and power plants, just to name a few. But engineering is more than that. Engineering is problem solving. We have many problems to solve, from our dependence on foreign oil to our crumbling infrastructure. And as a recent National Academies report explained, while only 4 percent of our Nation's workforce is composed of engineers and scientists, this group disproportionately creates jobs for the other 96 percent. America's 2.5 million engineers have helped make our country great by solving problems and turning dreams into reality, and America's future depends on them. Unfortunately, oftentimes their contributions, though, go unnoticed.
