Homeland Security Education Act--Increase International Competitiveness in Science and Technology
Mr. President, I
urge my colleagues to support the Homeland Security Education Act. This
bill encourages initiatives to increase the number of Americans trained
in science, technology, engineering, math, and foreign languages.
More than a century ago, Henry Ford revolutionized transportation
and industry with the creation of the Model T. This car and the process
designed to create it were so innovative that it was copied by every
other company. The Model T became the base model for all cars that
followed. This is a classic American story. Some of the most important
scientific breakthroughs in modern history have occurred in the labs,
workshops, and classrooms of America. We take pride in our Nation's
ability to meet any challenge and solve any problem with innovation and
discovery. But we are falling behind. Today's innovations in the auto
industry come not from Detroit but from Japan. Engineers in Asia are
designing tomorrow's hybrid car while Henry Ford's company and other
American companies are just trying to keep up.
America's
colleges and universities can play an important role in reversing the
decline in American innovation. The United States graduates some of the
world's best engineers, scientists, and mathematicians, but a far
higher proportion of the students in China, India, South Korea, and
Japan are focusing on these fields. The National Academies of Science
reports that in 2004, only 32 percent of the undergraduate degrees
awarded in the United States were in science or engineering compared to
59 percent in China and 66 percent in Japan. If we do not address this
crisis soon, China, India, and Japan will become the new centers for
scientific and technological innovation, while American workers
scramble to keep up. We must act now to ensure that America remains the
world's economic, scientific, and technological leader.
American workers are also increasingly finding themselves at a
disadvantage in a multilingual global community. In our increasingly
global economy and with a heightened concern for security in the
post-911 world, we need Americans who can speak a foreign language.
Only 9 percent of American students enroll in a foreign language course
in college. We especially need to focus on less commonly taught
languages, including Arabic, Farsi, Chinese, and Korean, and other
languages that are of particular value in the world today.
The best place to address both of these concerns is in the classroom.
We must adapt our educational system by providing the teachers and
resources needed to encourage students to study science, technology,
engineering, mathematics, and foreign languages. The Homeland Security
Education Act is an important step in the right direction.
This bill would encourage students to pursue math, science, technology,
engineering, and critical foreign languages by providing them with
$5,000 scholarships. Scientists, engineers, technology professionals,
and those fluent in foreign languages would be encouraged to return to
the classroom and use their career experiences to inspire students in
high-need or low-income schools. New grant programs would encourage
educational institutions, public entities, and businesses to enter into
partnerships that improve math and science curricula, establish
programs that promote students' foreign language proficiency along with
their science and technological knowledge, and create and establish
foreign language pathways from elementary school through college.
Finally, the bill would fund a student loan repayment program for
qualified individuals trained in science, technology, engineering,
math, and foreign languages who join the Federal workforce.
Our country is quickly approaching a crisis of competitiveness. To
avoid falling behind our international competitors in science and
innovation, we must confront this problem immediately in our schools.
We need to strengthen our students' proficiency in science, technology,
engineering, math, and foreign languages and provide them with the
incentives necessary to pursue careers in those fields. Today's
students are tomorrow's innovators, scientists, and technology leaders,
and we can't afford not to invest in them. I encourage my colleagues to
join me in cosponsoring the Homeland Security Education Act.
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