Vernon Ehlers: “I am in agreement with much of what I have heard today, but we have to recognize... this is a long-term problem. It is…”

“I am in agreement with much of what I have heard today, but we have to recognize... this is a long-term problem. It is also something that I have been involved in since 1967 when I was a physics professor and became very concerned with what was called at that time scientific illiteracy. It was clear the Nation had a major problem, so I dedicated myself as a professor of physics... to trying to eradicate scientific illiteracy in the areas in which I dealt. I taught special courses designed for students who were not scientists, so they would begin to understand science and comprehend it. That interest has continued, and I agree with the previous speaker, that this is a long-term problem that we have to address. I have developed three bills which I introduced this past year. We have over 110 cosponsors of those bills, and I had hoped that we could act on them this year, but due to various circumstances, that did not happen, although one of the bills was reported out of the Committee on Science.”