Supporting Veterans in STEM Careers Act

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 425 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 26, 2019 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation AN ACT To promote veteran involvement in STEM education, com- puter science, and scientific research, and for other pur- poses. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:43 Feb 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H425.RFS H425 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 HR 425 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Supporting Veterans 2 in STEM Careers Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 4 In this Act: 5 (1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 6 the Director of the National Science Foundation. 7 (2) FOUNDATION.—The term ‘‘Foundation’’ 8 means the National Science Foundation. 9 (3) STEM.—The term ‘‘STEM’’ has the mean- 10 ing given the term in section 2 of the America COM- 11 PETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 12 6621 note). 13 (4) VETERAN.—The term ‘‘veteran’’ has the 14 meaning given the term in section 101 of title 38, 15 United States Code. 16 SEC. 3. SUPPORTING VETERANS IN STEM EDUCATION AND 17 COMPUTER SCIENCE. 18 (a) SUPPORTING VETERAN INVOLVEMENT IN SCI- 19 ENTIFIC RESEARCH AND STEM EDUCATION.—The Di- 20 rector shall, through the research and education activities 21 of the Foundation, encourage veterans to study and pur- 22 sue careers in STEM and computer science, in coordina- 23 tion with other Federal agencies that serve veterans. 24 (b) VETERAN OUTREACH PLAN.—Not later than 180 25 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:43 Feb 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H425.RFS H425 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 HR 425 RFS shall submit to the Committee on Science, Space, and 1 Technology of the House of Representatives and the Com- 2 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 3 Senate a plan for how the Foundation can enhance its out- 4 reach efforts to veterans. Such plan shall— 5 (1) report on the Foundation’s existing out- 6 reach activities; 7 (2) identify the best method for the Foundation 8 to leverage existing authorities and programs to fa- 9 cilitate and support veterans in STEM careers and 10 studies, including teaching programs; and 11 (3) include options for how the Foundation 12 could track veteran participation in research and 13 education programs of the Foundation, and describe 14 any barriers to collecting such information. 15 (c) NATIONAL SCIENCE BOARD INDICATORS RE- 16 PORT.—The National Science Board shall provide in its 17 annual report on indicators of the state of science and en- 18 gineering in the United States any available and relevant 19 data on veterans in science and engineering careers or 20 education programs. 21 (d) ROBERT NOYCE TEACHER SCHOLARSHIP PRO- 22 GRAM UPDATE.—Section 10 of the National Science 23 Foundation Authorization Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 1862n– 24 1) is amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:43 Feb 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H425.RFS H425 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 HR 425 RFS (1) in subsection (a)(5)— 1 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking 2 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 3 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking the 4 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 5 (C) by adding at the end the following: 6 ‘‘(C) higher education programs that serve 7 or support veterans.’’; 8 (2) in subsection (b)(2)(F)— 9 (A) by striking ‘‘and students’’ and insert- 10 ing ‘‘, students’’; and 11 (B) by inserting ‘‘, and veterans’’ before 12 the period at the end; 13 (3) in subsection (c)(2), by inserting ‘‘and vet- 14 erans’’ before the period at the end; and 15 (4) in subsection (d)(2), by inserting ‘‘and vet- 16 erans’’ before the period at the end. 17 (e) NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION TEACHING 18 FELLOWSHIPS AND MASTER TEACHING FELLOWSHIPS 19 UPDATE.—Section 10A(d) of the National Science Foun- 20 dation Authorization Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 1862n– 21 1a(d)) is amended— 22 (1) in paragraph (3)(F)— 23 (A) by striking ‘‘and individuals’’ and in- 24 serting ‘‘, individuals’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:43 Feb 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H425.RFS H425 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 HR 425 RFS (B) by inserting ‘‘, and veterans’’ before 1 the period at the end; and 2 (2) in paragraph (4)(B), by inserting ‘‘and vet- 3 erans’’ before the period at the end. 4 (f) NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION COMPUTER 5 AND NETWORK SECURITY CAPACITY BUILDING GRANTS 6 UPDATE.—Section 5(a) of the Cyber Security Research 7 and Development Act (15 U.S.C. 7404(a)) is amended— 8 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘and stu- 9 dents who are veterans’’ after ‘‘these fields’’; and 10 (2) in paragraph (3)— 11 (A) in subparagraph (I), by striking ‘‘and’’ 12 at the end; 13 (B) by redesignating subparagraph (J) as 14 subparagraph (K); and 15 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (I) the 16 following: 17 ‘‘(J) creating opportunities for veterans to 18 transition to careers in computer and network 19 security; and’’. 20 (g) GRADUATE TRAINEESHIPS IN COMPUTER AND 21 NETWORK SECURITY RESEARCH UPDATE.—Section 22 5(c)(6)(C) of the Cyber Security Research and Develop- 23 ment Act (15 U.S.C. 7404(c)(6)(C)) is amended by insert- 24 ing ‘‘or veterans’’ after ‘‘disciplines’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:43 Feb 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H425.RFS H425 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 HR 425 RFS (h) VETERANS AND MILITARY FAMILIES STEM 1 EDUCATION INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP.— 2 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office of 3 Science and Technology Policy shall establish an 4 interagency working group to coordinate Federal 5 programs and policies for transitioning and training 6 veterans and military spouses for STEM careers. 7 (2) DUTIES OF INTERAGENCY WORKING 8 GROUP.—The interagency working group established 9 under paragraph (1) shall— 10 (A) coordinate any Federal agency STEM 11 outreach activities and programs for veterans 12 and military spouses; and 13 (B) develop and facilitate the implementa- 14 tion by participating agencies of a strategic 15 plan, which shall— 16 (i) specify and prioritize short- and 17 long-term objectives; 18 (ii) specify the common metrics that 19 will be used by Federal agencies to assess 20 progress toward achieving such objectives; 21 (iii) identify barriers veterans face in 22 reentering the workforce, including a lack 23 of formal STEM education, career guid- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:43 Feb 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H425.RFS H425 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 HR 425 RFS ance, and the process of transferring mili- 1 tary credits and skills to college credits; 2 (iv) identify barriers military spouses 3 face in establishing careers in STEM 4 fields; 5 (v) describe the approaches that each 6 participating agency will take to address 7 administratively the barriers described in 8 clauses (iii) and (iv); and 9 (vi) identify any barriers that require 10 Federal or State legislative or regulatory 11 changes in order to be addressed. 12 (3) DUTIES OF OSTP.—The Director of the Of- 13 fice of Science and Technology Policy shall encour- 14 age and monitor the efforts of the Federal agencies 15 participating in the interagency working group to 16 ensure that the strategic plan required under para- 17 graph (2)(B) is developed and executed effectively 18 and that the objectives of such strategic plan are 19 met. 20 (4) REPORT.—The Director of the Office of 21 Science and Technology Policy shall— 22 (A) not later than 1 year after the date of 23 enactment of this Act, submit to Congress the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:43 Feb 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H425.RFS H425 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 HR 425 RFS strategic plan required under paragraph (2)(B); 1 and 2 (B) include in the annual report required 3 by section 101(d) of the America COMPETES 4 Reauthorization Act a description of any 5 progress made in carrying out the activities de- 6 scribed in paragraph (2)(B) of this subsection. 7 (5) SUNSET.—The interagency working group 8 established under paragraph (1) shall terminate on 9 the date that is 5 years after the date that it is es- 10 tablished. 11 Passed the House of Representatives February 25, 2019. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:43 Feb 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H425.RFS H425 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS