Lamar Smith: “I would like to thank the gentleman from California, a member of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee, for…”

“I would like to thank the gentleman from California, a member of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee, for yielding me time on this particular piece of legislation. I do support H.R. 3397, the Building Blocks of STEM Act, introduced by Representative Jacky Rosen and Representative Steve Knight, the Energy Subcommittee vice chairman. The bill will help boost our ability to get young people interested in STEM subjects. America lags behind many other nations when it comes to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. American students are ranked 19th in science and 31st in math out of 35 industrialized nations, the bottom half in both. This is not the educational record of a country that wants to compete globally. We must encourage our Nation's youth to study science and engineering so they will want to pursue these careers. More graduates with STEM degrees means more advanced technologies and a more robust economy. A well-educated and trained STEM workforce promotes our future economic prosperity. These graduates have the potential to develop technologies that could save thousands of lives, jump-start a new industry, or even discover new worlds. H.R. 3397 directs the National Science Foundation to more equitably allocate funding for research in studies that focus on early childhood. Investing in young students seeks to lay the groundwork to interest them in STEM in their formative years.…”