On the recordJanuary 10, 2017
I thank Congresswoman Esty and Congressman Johnson and appreciate their passion on both of these bills and their leadership and, once again, being able to join with them on inspiring the next generation of women leaders in the STEM fields. As was noted by my colleagues, there is such a shortage of people to fill these jobs in general. Now this will equip more women to be able to be prepared in these important fields that will allow us to be leaders in the 21st century economy. I would like to thank our staff--particularly we have our female staff here who have been very active on our bill, as well as a male. We are fortunate to have female leadership on our staff, also, and we thank them. I know, in working on a program that I have had over the past 4 years, a young woman's leadership program, NASA, space, and astronauts have been some of the most popular people that our women in junior high and high school have liked to meet, hear from, and really be able to see themselves in those roles and to talk to women who have actually been leaders in those fields. So I appreciate the opportunity to join with my colleagues now in giving that opportunity to the next generation. I yield back the balance of my time.
